Confessions of a Future Past
by Ayashe
Summary: The XMen are in 2005. Lelia, Stacey, Aliana, and Jamie are in 2015 trying to clear the mutant name. And Glint, Vicki, and Bobby are in 2029 fighting alien invaders, but they want to go back in time and change things to save the future...but can they?
1. Planning the Past

Disclaimer: I don't own any form of X-Men, Evolution, The Animated Series, Comics, or otherwise. They belong to Marvel Comics. All three elements are used in this fiction, but mostly the comics and Evolution.  
  
Confessions of a Future Past  
  
2029  
  
"You're sure about this Glint? I mean are you really going to do this?"  
  
Glint looked up from the book of which she was writing in the front cover and gave her teammate a determined, yet annoyed look.  
  
"Ya look sure to me," Vicki answered herself as she pushed her graying pink stripe hair out of her face. She had known Glint for many, many years, since before her codename had been Glint. Way before any of this full-on mutant versus post-futurian war had broken out. Way before they had any signs of gray hair. Before she was given the codename of Timetripper. And before any of their friends were been killed.  
  
Vicki looked at her long-time friend, so determined, but the closer she looked at her face she saw the many wrinkles that had been weathered into her pain-stricken complexion after so many tears had been cried. Ever since the first attack and the death of her husband and many friends she had become cynical, determined, and quite mad. She had always been determined, but never to the extent of something as cataclysmic as this.  
  
Glint finished writing with the old quill pen, she had never picked up a pixel pen in her life and used it, she claimed that the world hasn't changed and shouldn't; she was trapped in the past, but that's where she wanted to be and was going. She blew lightly on the ink and set it on her desk and closed up the inkwell. "Ok, so now all we need is personal items from long past as proof, I have mine, I'm bringing my pendant necklace. And then for-"  
  
"-You didn't have your pendant back then Glint, you got it after La Luce died, remember?" Vicki interjected.  
  
"She's not dead, not yet," Glint replied far off stubbornly. She thought a moment and went through her deep cedar chest in the corner of the room. She furrowed her brow and slowly pulled her head out of the chest she was rummaging through. "Vick, you've known me a long time, what should I bring then for that particular era?"  
  
"hmm.What about those sunglasses you used to wear with your uniform?"  
  
"No good, got damaged in a gailstorm wind remember?" she frowned to herself as she looked out the window covered in soot from recent attacks on their home. She tried hard to think about what she could bring to the past, "Where's Stacey and Jamie? They've known me longer than anyone else I can think of."  
  
"They're not here anymore, remember? They died when the post-futurians turned those old sentinels against us and tried to blast Aliana and they tried to save her, but got blasted."  
  
"What are you talking about? I don't remember any of that."  
  
It was no use, Glint was never going to believe her, she seemed to have ruled out all the bad memories from her mind, "never mind, um.what about your old X-belt?"  
  
"Yeah, so they can think I stole it from one of their friends, they were all the same."  
  
"No they weren't, yours wasn't. It wasn't black."  
  
Glint thought about it and realized she was right, her's was different. She searched the chest again looking for it, "Do you know where my old uniform is?"  
  
"It's downstairs in the memory room, ya know that room devoted to people we lost and all our old uniforms and technology, and oh never mind! I'll get it," Vicki said as she walked out of the room.  
  
Soon enough she returned and all the objects they were bringing into the past was ready. Vicki said they had a few more minutes until they could enter the time stream and go to that particular time with out polluting it anymore.  
  
"Now, yer absolutely sure you want to do this? I mean even Magneto never tried anything so evil! You realize that this could destroy the world as we know it right?" Vicki asked Glint trying to talk her out of it. " Ya know TimeTripper there isn't any real difference between good and evil, it's just how people perceive it."  
  
"Yeah, and there's no real difference between you and completely insane either! Now how are you sure this is going to work anyways?"  
  
"Because I can feel it in my bones, the whole world will be but a blur to us soon, and we'll never have to live in this world again, we'll be happier!"  
  
"We'll be DEAD!"  
  
"Are you going to help or do I have to ask another time traveler?"  
  
"I'll help, but I just want to make sure you really want to do this."  
  
"Well I do. Are we ready now?"  
  
"Just a few more minutes and the time stream will be fluctuated enough."  
  
A/n: Well this may be a bit confusing at the moment, but it'll all get cleared up later, because well I write like Charles Dickens, only I hope not as confusing. I hope you like it, please read and review! 


	2. Cooling Off and Hot Tempers

Disclaimer: I don't own any form of X-Men, Evolution, The Animated Series, Comics, or otherwise. They belong to Marvel Comics. All three elements are used in this fiction, but mostly the comics and Evolution.  
  
Confessions of a Future Past  
  
2029  
  
"Just a few more minutes and the time stream will be fluctuated enough," Vicki started as she closed her eyes getting in touch with the space-time continuum checking it. She opened her eyes again and looked past Glint to the brown leather book behind her on the desk. "So.what kinda whackamoley stuff you got written in here?" she said as she snatched the book up as Glint tried to get it back from her.  
  
"No! Don't do that! That's personal!" Glint said as she reached over Vicki trying to grab the small book.  
  
"Hey, if I'm going to save the universe don't I at least get the privilege to read the book we're going to save it with?"  
  
~~ 2004  
  
Two doors opened with a "whoosh" separating the two sides of a large silver "x." A boy made completely of ice emerged from the danger room triumphantly. He raised his hands above his head as he de-iced and yelled out "Yeah!" with a slight chuckle. In his still icy hand he saw the reflection of someone behind them. He looked over his shoulder and ran.  
  
Ghost was right on his tail flying as fast as she could at the moment. "Bobby Drake! Imma gonna get you, I DON'T appreciate being completely iced over! You know very well that I am claustrophobic!" She wasn't about to use her powers because she was afraid that they still wouldn't be under control after her claustrophobia attack when Bobby incased her in a very small house of ice. She didn't need powers though.  
  
She flew above him and swooped in like a hawk does for the kill, she wrapped her arms around him and flew him straight back into the Danger Room knowing very well that Professor Xavier did not allow fighting in the hallways.  
  
Ghost flew the two of them though the open doors and past two other mutants who ducked as not to get hit. Stacey looked at a very frightened Jamie Madrox, and his two also scared multiples behind him. "Uh oh," all four of them said quietly to themselves, for they knew that Ghost was a person that was very hard to get angry. But Bobby was an exception to that rule; really their relationship could be considered sibling rivalry.  
  
She dropped Bobby off on the ground and continued on up to the control room. The doors closed behind Stacey and Jamie; Stacey was very curious as to what Ghost planned to do to Bobby after he turned her fears against her; Jamie was just glad he didn't have to weather another session like Bobby did. Inside the danger room Ghost simply turned up the heat melting all of Bobby's ice. After the temperature reached about 90 degrees Fahrenheit Ghost turned off the room opening the doors again.  
  
Stacey and Jamie looked behind them, wondering why the session was unusually short. "That's it? That's your big revenge plan?" Bobby asked trying to surpress his laughter; he did not do a very good job of this at that either. She gracefully landed next to him and answered, "No, that comes later, this was just to let you 'steam off' so to say."  
  
"Ha ha, very funny," he said as they rejoined their comrades outside in the hallway.  
  
~~  
  
2029  
  
Vicki opened the book and started reading, skimming actually, she managed to read only a few key words before they disappeared. They were: Ghost, Session, and Bobby. They seemed to soak into the pages, almost as if they had never been written in the first place. Glint grabbed the book back. "Fine. Take your book, it's haunted anyways," Vicki said as it was snatched from her hands. "It's not haunted Vick, the past just changed, that part never happened anymore. See, we've already changed the past, either that or something else made Ghost change her mind." ~~ A/n: Well I hoped you liked the chapter, and understood the switching of times and p.o.v's. Please review and tell me where YOU would like to see this go next, I may add in your ideas. And no, Stacey Lofton, I am not going to release who Glint is yet. 


	3. Beat Red Eyes and Glasses

Confessions of a Future past  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men, Marvel does. I only wish I did. The only things I own at the moment are Ghost, Glint, and La Luce. The characters of Vicki and Stacey belong to Stacey Lofton, my best friend. Aliana belongs to our friend Aliana.  
  
[A/N: Ok, time for a long over-due update! Thanks everyone who reviewed, I hope more people do for this chapter! None of this happened in Marvel comics, I am making this up as I go along, so some characters died differently. Also, some birth dates are different because I'm integrating from X-Men:Evolution and they are younger at that time. I also made up Aliana's birthday because I didn't know what it was.]  
  
Chapter 3: Beat Red Eyes and Glasses  
  
Scott looked out through his dingy window; he'd gotten the worst end of the deal. He lost everything that mattered to him, his friends, his wife, his daughter and his home. His former, and only home, the Xavier Institute, used to be on the hill of his horizon, all that was left there was ash. When the school for mutants was attacked and destroyed Xavier gave them all different homes, all split up across the tri-county area. Scott got the worst of the deal then too, he had to be at the base of the hill, had to see the destruction every day.  
  
At the foot of the hill off in the distance he saw many stones protruding through the surface, graves. He'd been to so many funerals in that meadow that he knew each one by heart.  
  
"Leonora Traviata/Diena Lane December 21st, 1987-November 11th, 2021 Honorable Italian-American, valued friend and teammate, teacher to all. Saved 10 lives in Post-futurian attack on New York State. Died fighting for forces of the United Countries of the World."  
  
"Aliana LeBeau May 25th, 1988-November 19th, 2021 Will be forever missed by teammates, family, friends, loved ones, and is honored the world over for several attempts to stop Post-futurian invasion on Earth. Saved 34 lives in her short time on this world. 'Do not fret because of evil men  
  
or be envious of those who do wrong;  
  
for like the grass they will soon wither,  
  
like green plants they will soon die away.'"  
  
And there was always that one, that one he'd visit every day but refuse look at. That one that broke his heart into a million shattered pieces. The one that rested above his wife's head. He tried not to remember, but the words that were engraved upon it came flowing back to him.  
  
"Doctor Jean Grey Beloved wife, mother, and friend. June 16th, 1987-January 31st, 2022 She will be forever missed and remembered by her achievements, speeches, and through her husband and daughter. 'Your beauty was perfected because of My splendor which I bestowed on you'"  
  
He winced in pain as the memories flooded back to him, and the irony of the words written upon it hurt even more. She was supposed to be remembered through her daughter Rachel, but that ideal did not last any longer than three months. He was a strong man, he could take any hit that was thrown at him; he could live with the pain of never taking off a pair of special glasses or visor. But tonight he laid down on his bed, he stared at the ceiling, and started crying. He cried for his wife and daughter, for all of his friends, and enemies that were buried up on the horizon. He cried until his eyes started swelling and he fell asleep in the cold, dark room alone. This was his future, he hadn't chosen it. If he had they'd still be alive.  
  
[A/N: Is it possible for authors to almost cry because of their own story? Yup, this part was so sad for me to write. I just wanted to give you guys a taste of the future I created here. All comments are welcome, please review!] 


	4. Is There a Difference?

Disclaimer: I don't own any form of X-Men, Evolution, The Animated Series, Comics, or otherwise. They belong to Marvel Comics. All three elements are used in this fiction, but mostly the comics and Evolution. The only things I own are this story, the plot, Ghost, La Luce, and Glint. Vicki and Stacey belong to Stacey Lofton (check out her PotC story), and Aliana belongs to Aliana LeBeau.  
  
Confessions of a Future Past Chapter 4: Is There a Difference?  
  
2015  
  
Lelia sat on the hill, the one that could be seen from her apartment, the one with daisies; the one that got hit just the right way by the sun in summer. She looked out on the ocean, the Atlantic, and watched the sun set. The oranges, reds, and pinks made her smile glow a little bit more. When it finally reached the point where she couldn't see it over the horizon anymore she stood up. She raised her left arm and pushed a button on the side of her watch, which made it glow an eerie green so she could read the time, 7:34. Brushing the sand off of her she turned her back to the shore and headed in the direction of home.  
  
It wasn't big, it wasn't glamorous, it wasn't even near 'work,' but it was home nonetheless. Turning the knob she walked into the small apartment.  
  
"Stace...? Ali...? You guys here? Hello!" she said slowly as she placed her keys on the table. Poking her head into the kitchen she frowned, then walked down the hallway to its end and opened the door directly in front of her. "Stacey?" she asked with no answer seeing no one was in there before closing it and opening the door next to it on the left. "Aliana?" she asked again with no reply. Lelia pulled the door shut and frowned.  
  
She walked into the living room and sat on the couch, furrowing her brow. "It's not like them to just run off this late and not leave a note. Well, it isn't like them now, not since the team split up for 'safety reasons,'" she told herself. A moment later a knock came on the door and she started to open it, but hesitated. "Who is it?" No answer. Slowly opening the door she saw no one was there.  
  
"Blasted kids, they always get me with that," she said as she started to close the door, but noticed something on the ground. She picked it up, it was a ratty, torn, leather bound book. She opened it to the inside front cover as she closed the door. "Huh. There's a note here," she spoke to herself again as she unfolded it and read. It said "I told you before and you didn't listen. It's starting. Listen now or pay like I did."  
  
It wasn't signed, and wasn't written in a handwriting she recognized, it was more of chicken scratch than anything. "Told me before...?" she pondered to herself. She opened up the book to a page that was marked and plopped herself down on the couch and started reading.  
  
~~~  
  
2029  
  
"Glint, why do we still have this? Didn't we just drop it off in two different time periods?" Vicki asked skeptically as she picked up the old book.  
  
"Yeah, but you and I were both in the past, both times, so we came across the book after that, which is why we have it now, which is the future to the past," she explained as she looked out the window at the destruction. This had to work.  
  
"Riiiiggghhhttttt...So remind me again why we're just sitting here when we know that the post-futurians are going after President Kelly? And Vice President Creed?" Vicki reminded the other girl.  
  
"Because they're idiotic and mutant haters," Glint retorted.  
  
"Which is why you're going to save their lives by changing the past?"  
  
"Difference much. I'm not saving THEM. I'm saving all the mutants that died in the attacks on mutants and humanity."  
  
"We're all humanity, not mutants AND humanity," Vicki contradicted.  
  
"What ever you say...," she said sarcastically.  
  
'Does she really think there's a difference?' Vicki thought to herself looking at Glint skeptically.  
  
~~~ 2004-Present Time  
  
Ghost walked out of her room and into the hallway not paying attention to where she was going as she strapped on her watch that doubled as an image inducer. She walked head first into another student at the school. She rubbed her forehead before looking up at Jamie. Standing up Ghost extended her hand and helped up one of the three multiples.  
  
"Sorry Jamie. My powers are really acting up lately; I was just headed down to the med bay to get some Tylenol. Are you ok?" she asked as she helped up another.  
  
The original one nodded, "I'm fine, are you ok?"  
  
"Only thing bruised is my ego, but I can live with out that for the rest of my life."  
  
"Couldn't you sense me coming?"  
  
"I couldn't see you coming. I couldn't even HEAR you coming," she admitted. "You up for..."  
  
"If you say danger, room, or session in that sentence I'm out of here."  
  
"Pizza," she finished smirking at him.  
  
"Yeah, that I'm up for," he said as he absorbed his multiples into his body.  
  
"Shall we then Sir Madrox?" Lelia joked as she bowed and extended her arm in the direction of the staircase.  
  
"We shall Lady Stone, err DeToma, err, what do you want me to call you as far as last names go?" Jamie asked her truly perplexed.  
  
"Lady Stone-DeToma will do just fine," she answered with a small smile on her face as she straightened up and the two headed down the hall. They stopped when they heard a knocking on a nearby door. Both looked at it strangely, they knew the room well, had their classes in it almost everyday; it was Xavier's classroom where he taught classes of his own, either school related for the home-schooled students or power control to any of the students. "Did you hear that?"  
  
Jamie nodded, "Who could be in there though? No one has classes today, it's Saturday, and besides, why would they knock from the inside? Locked in?"  
  
"Well I don't sense anyone in there, care to investigate?" she asked with the curiosity of a three-year-old. She didn't wait for an answer though before she turned the knob. The room was empty, and all that laid inside was a small book. Lelia looked over to her friend, "Did you leave one of your texts in here yesterday?" he shook his head. "It's not mine...and no one else needs books for their classes in here so...let's have a look."  
  
Walking over to the desk Jamie picked it up and it started to glow. Lelia raised her eyebrow and looked over his shoulder as he opened it, ceasing the glow. The first page read, "Whom so ever reads this book is forever doomed to a life of pain, and for the lucky, death. Your future is chosen already, but you can change it. Change it for my sake and yours."  
  
"Spooky," was all Ghost could make out as she stared at the pages. "Where's Kurt today?" she managed snapping out of her reverie.  
  
"He's been with Amanda all day. And I think that Bobby has been gone too if you think someone's playing a joke on us," he said looking at her seriously.  
  
[A/n: Ok, I'm stopping here. Hope that was long enough and made up for all the short boring chapters. This wasn't as short, and I hope wasn't boring. Please review! I need criticism!] 


	5. Knowing the Field

Disclaimer: I don't own any form of X-Men, Evolution, The Animated Series, Comics, or otherwise. They belong to Marvel Comics. All three elements are used in this fiction, but mostly the comics and Evolution. The only things I own are this story, the plot, Ghost, La Luce, Carolyn Darjay, Niccolò Traviata, Pricilla Kenes, and Glint. Vicki and Stacey belong to Stacey Lofton (check out her PotC story), and Aliana belongs to Aliana LeBeau.

A/n: Wow. I didn't realise this was soooo late! I'm sorry! I had a few computer crashes and other issues. Well, I have your chapter for you here and already have some others mostly written. Enjoy!

Confessions of a Future Past

Chapter 5: Knowing the Field

2029

"Agent Carolyn Darjay, Agent Niccolò Traviata, and Agent Pricilla Kenes. So, these are the best agents the Sentinel Troops could offer? Well, we'll see about that," a tall grey-haired man said to three in front of him. Carolyn noted his technical visor, which came over his ear and covered only one eye. She guessed that the information he received on it told him of both his sentinel agents, and their enemy's known agents. She stood at attention for her new commanding officer as he continued. "Alright, now, your assignment is to find these mutants that are currently missing in action: Victoria Bryne, James Madrox, Leila Stone, Rahne Sinclair, Evan Daniels, Jubilation Lee, Tabitha, Todd Tolansky, and of coarse Mr. Traviata, your mother, Leonora Traviata. Here are the files on each of them, I trust you will study them carefully and bring these wretched beings to justice for their crimes."

Once they were dismissed the three agents huddled around the files that Pricilla held in her hands. She divided them amongst the group, each deciding to memorise the files they chose.

"Alright, tonight we'll go over the files. Don't overlook anything, the smallest thing could prove consequential," Pricilla told them as she looked over the ones she had chosen: Todd Tolansky, Rahne Sinclair, and Victoria Bryne. She'd spend the night memorising everything about these people over a massive cup of coffee.

"Yeah, yeah, we know the deal," Niccolò griped, "We do this all the time. This will be easy."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Nick. These muties have evaded us for quite sometime now. Some of them even faked their deaths. But, we're still the best in the business. The freaks don't stand a chance," Carolyn said through the teeth of her satisfied smile.

2015

"I don't believe this," Ghost said with slight fear in her voice, "Someone knows our past, and has our future written out, but I can't let it happen like this, I won't let them go down. And why aren't there any dates in here? I can't save my friends on guesses of what might happen, and how do I even know all of this WILL happen and-" she rambled on to herself then stopped and looked down at the closed book in her hands. "It ca'n't be," she said as realization struck her.

Walking quickly to the front door she picked up her cell phone, and dialed Stacey's cell number, and put her keys in her pocket as she waited for it to ring. She heard a faint ring coming from Stacey's bedroom, and Ghost groaned as she realized that the girl forgot her phone at home again. "Perfect," she said as she hung up, then dialed another number. After three rings she was about to hang up, when she heard a voice on the other end of the line. "Jamie! You home?"

"Of coarse I'm home, you called me at home," Jamie answered.

"Oh yeah. Jamie, something urgent has come up, I'm coming over ok?" She said nervously.

"What's wrong?"

"No time to explain, I'll be there in five minutes," she said as she hung up the phone and pulled her white trench coat around her and quickly scribbled a note to her roommates. "Found something important, went to Jamie's house. Call my cell when you get back. Ghost." Then she rushed out the door and into the elevator and moments later drove her car to a small apartment complex. She walked up to the entrance door and pushed a button on the wall and spoke into a small box, "Jamie? Jamie it's Ghost, can you let me in?"

"Sure thing," a voice came through the box before a buzz sounded signalling the door was unlocked. Ghost opened the door and walked across the lobby and entered the elevator and pushed the button for level 8. Exiting the elevator she walked down the hall to room 8C and walked through the door. "Jamie!" she exclaimed as she made her way into the room, then not seeing him in the living room questioned, "Jamie? Jamie where are you?"

"Kitchen," he sounded back.

"Hiya," she said as she walked into the kitchen and saw Jamie making himself a sandwhich.

"Hey, so what's the big emergency? You sounded kind of freaked out on the phone," he asked as he looked up at her with concern.

"Yeah," she pulled a leatherbound book out of her coat pocket and tossed it on the table in front of Jamie. "Look familiar?"

"Where'd you find this old thing?" Jamie asked as he examined the page-worn, old leather book in his hands. There was no title of any sort, presumably a journal, and there was a piece of twine spun round it, to keep it shut and keep the pages in. He sniffed it; it even smelled slightly of mould.

"It was left on the doorstop of our apartment," she replied, searching his eyes for any signs of recognition. So far, she saw none.

"Well, maybe next time you should leave it there."

"Jamie! Don't you remember it?" Leila said as she took the small book from his hands and started trying to untie the tight knot of twine.

"No, can't say that I do," he watched her working on the small amount of string to no avail and reached over and quickly untied it. "Now, can you tell me what this is all about?"

"Okay, well, about ten years ago, when we were at the institute we found this little trinket in our classroom. Nobody knew who's it was or how it got there. It was weird, but the strangest thing is this," she said as she opened it up to a page in the front of the book and passed it over to him.

Jamie read with interest the short paragraph on the dog-eared page. When he finished and looked up, Leila saw a certain amusement in his eyes. "You keep a diary?" he asked trying to surpress his laughter.

"I didn't write any of that. I can't believe you don't remember this. We found this journal, with all the entries about things that happened to us all ready in there. There's even stuff that hasn't happened yet. At first I thought it was some sort of cruel joke, then I remembered where I'd seen it before. And look at this," she said and flipped the pages to the front cover where a note was scrawled in faded ink.

"I warned you once, but you wouldn't listen. This is your last chance to change this future," he read aloud. "Time travelers."

"I didn't even think of that. But that's got to be it, time travelers. We only know like one or two of them though, who could it be?"

"What about Vicky?" Jamie asked, connecting the dots.

"Maybe. I think Stacey has her address somewhere at home, I'll ask her later."

Jamie started randomly flipping through the pages, reading things he remembered, and things that were supposed to happen. One in particular caught his eye, it was about that morning. His eyes grew wide when he read the bottom of the page, that night. "Uh, Ghost, you didn't read all of this did you?"

"No, why?" she curiously.

"No reason. It's probably best to keep things a surprise though, don't you think?"

"I guess," she glanced down at her watch, "Blast. I didn't realise it was that late. I've really got to get going, I'm supposed to do this presentation at the museum today."

"Alright, I'll see you later. We're still on for tonight, right?" he said; standing up he led her to the door.

"Of coarse," she planted a kiss on his cheek and stepped out the door. "Bye!"

A/N: Well, that's all for now! I hope to have the next chapter up next weekend. I have a few chapters written, but they're on seperate computers and I kind of jumbled up a few things that I need to fix. Until the next chapter I'd love to hear what you guys want to happen to this fic and what you think Jamie read in the book.

Now! Go review!...oh, and have a mango and a few cookies for reading.


	6. Setting the Board

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, or their characters; all of it belongs to Marvel Comics and their individual creators. The characters of Stacey Lofton and Vicki Byrne belong to Stacey Lofton (read our Evo/PotC crossover story on her name!). Aliana LeBeau belongs to Aliana LeBeau. Mithra belongs to stormelle. I reserve the rights to this fiction, its story line, Leila Stone, Leonora Traviata, Carolyn Darjay, Niccolò Traviata, Pricilla Kenes, and Glint.

Confessions of a Future Past 

Chapter 6: Setting the Board

2029

"What're you doing now?" Vicki asked as she sat at the foot of her bed, which had various items strewn across it. She stood up again quickly, and pulled a few chess pieces out from underneath her.

"I'll take those," Glint replied, taking the pieces from Vicki's open palm and placing them over a lit-up chessboard. "Just playing a little game."

"Are you actually using one of those new chess sets? I thought you were all about the old ways?" she said in astonishment as she changed her position at the edge of the bed to get a better view of the new contraption.

It had lit-up squares which gave a slight glow to each of the girls' faces. Each piece resembled a real person or animal, unlike those of regular sets. Glint moved the pieces Vicki had sat on to their own specific placements. When she set down the knights on the black side and pushed a few minuscule buttons on the side of the board the pieces took on the likeness of a man and a woman. She then took the rook and put it in the back corner of the opposite side where it took on the image of a man with pale skin, almost an icy blue.

"Bobby? You made the piece look like Bobby?" Vicki said giving Glint a sidelong glance.

"Exactly. I'm going to see how this will all play out. Look at the other pieces," her friend suggested. Vicki looked at each of the pieces, sometimes squinting to see their faces; she recognised many of them, though not all. Some of them she seemed to remember from a dream; or a distant memory perhaps.

Just then, as Vicki started piecing together who the pieces she didn't recognise were, a tone rang out through the small apartment. Both girls took a split-second to identify the sound as the doorbell since it hardly rang. Vicki looked at Glint, who didn't seem to show any interest in the bell or any intention to answer it, before she stood up. "I'll get it."

She walked across the living room with the small kitchen in the corner to the thick door. Before opening the door she peered through the small peephole, then undid various locks. Some things may have changed in the New York area over time, but tons of locks and bolts had not. Finally the door opened to show an inpatient man standing in the hallway.

"Are you guys ready? We're wasting precious time here!" he complained in a low, hushed voice as he crossed the threshold into the small living area. He ran his hand through his light brown hair and looked around the room, then to Vicki who appeared at his right after re-doing all the locks. "She is coming, isn't she? This is our chance to finally prove to President Kelly that we can help out against the alien scum."

Vicki gave him a sombre look, and shook her head. "I can't talk any sense into that girl. I swear, she's like a little kid; she's worse, she's like you when you were younger, Bobby."

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad," Bobby replied with a slight chuckle. He had been known to be quite stubborn and immature long ago and still today he was a little bit of both. "Let me talk to her," he offered and looked to Vicki, who just pointed him towards the backroom, which doubled as a bedroom and an office. He walked into the small room to see Glint finish setting up the chessboard. Leaning against the doorframe he said, "So, what's this I hear about you not wanting to prove mutant usefulness? Not wanting to save the world?"

"If you mean President Kelly's assassination that's supposed to happen today, I'm not going," she replied coldly with out turning to look at him.

"That doesn't sound like the you I know," he chastised and moved from his propped position in the doorway to a spot on the floor across the chessboard from Glint.

"Then I don't know who you know, but it's not me. I'm not going to save an enemy."

"That's why you've got to save him, G., So he won't be an enemy anymore. You can help convince him that we're not bad. That he should be siding with us, not against us."

"Don't call me G," she said, raising her head from the chess pieces to look him straight in the eye. "People like that don't change. He tried to kill us. He had the government create sentient robots to hunt us down."

"You act as if you'd never faced a sentinel before that."

"I hadn't."

Bobby turned to Vicki, who had been listening from the door, now with a drink in her hand. He shot her a look that begged for reinforcements. She mouthed the words 'I told you' to him. He rolled his eyes and stood up and walked into the main room, Vicki close in tow. He sat down on the old couch, resting his elbows on his knees as Vicki sat in the chair across from him.

"She really doesn't remember who she is, does she?"

"I think somewhere in there she remembers all of it. Those futurians messed with her mind though; they blocked out her memories and planted some fake ones too. If you remember, before it faded, Aliana had telepathic powers. She looked in there once and said that Glint would only remember those things if she wanted to. She has to really try to remember," his friend assured him.

"And she doesn't want to. What about La Luce or Xavier? They were both 'grade a' telepaths. Can't they just unlock those memories?"

"Professor Xavier's getting older, his power is very limited these days, but he's still as pacifist as ever. He won't help out unless she asks him. And Leonora didn't have enough time to work on it. She would have, she didn't care about invading people's minds very much. But that pendant Glint has is supposed to help. Leonora said that if she really tried to remember something and could get her hands on little bits of it, the rest would come back with the help of that pendant."

"Telepathy is so confusing."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, I guess if we're going to save the president, stop the aliens, and get my girlfriend's identity back we're going to have to get her memory back. Man, it's like dominoes, you have to set off one to start a chain of events."

"How are we supposed to get Glint's memory back? You saw her, she refuses to remember."

"We'll just have to help her along. Just try to get her to remember something super important that she can't forget. The first attacks maybe. But we can't give up, there's too much at stake. I just wish she wasn't the only one that could save Kelly, it would be so much easier. I mean, Miss Frost could create the same type of hard covering, but she can't encase someone else in it."

"Right. Well, let's go try to talk some sense into the senseless."

---------------

Year 2029. A secret location somewhere under New York.

"Ah hate waiting around here lahke this. I gotta get out!" a voice rang out through the large, cavernous, underground room.

"We can't do that. You know that," a man's voice lectured the first. "We have to wait until it's safe to come out of hiding. They told us that they're going to try to get the president to call of his attack. Maybe they can get him to call of his agents that are looking for us."

"Well, it better happen soon. I'm getting so weak down here with out the sun," a third said.


	7. Press Conference Catastrophe

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, or their characters; all of it belongs to Marvel Comics and their individual creators. The characters of Stacey Lofton and Vicky Byrne belong to Stacey Lofton (read our Evo/PotC crossover story on her name!). Aliana LeBeau belongs to Aliana LeBeau. Mithra belongs to stormelle. I reserve the rights to this fiction, its story line, Leila Stone, Leonora Traviata, Carolyn Darjay, Niccolò Traviata, Pricilla Kenes, and Glint.

((A/n: Well…I told you this might be a little bit late. Sorry, I had no computer access and was really busy. Um…this chapter may start out a little bit boring, but it's NOT a filler chapter! Enjoy.))

Confessions of a Future Past

Chapter 7: Press Conference Catastrophe

2015

"Stacey? What're you doing here?" Leila asked as she walked into the small conference room at the National Evolutionary Museum. Leila worked there as both a researcher and a public speaker and was used to large press conferences and her weekly presentations about the evolution of mankind and the universe in general. What she was not used to, however, was having her best friend show up right before one of these.  
"Well, I am a reporter after all, and I want to make sure your presentations get more advertising. Maybe if I can get people to come to these, you can convince them we're not evil. Besides, I'm doing some more P.R. for that new pro-mutant rights politician, Angela Wainright. She's really interested in this museum for some reason and wanted me to scope it out for her. So, why not write an article on it if I already have the info?" Stacey replied with a big grin. She stood from the chair she'd been waiting in and placed a small notepad and pen in her handbag.  
"So, basicly you're here so you don't have to do the bookwork for research, right?" Leila joked.  
"Exactly."  
"Cool," she exclaimed, using the out-dated expression. "Well, if I had known you were coming I'd have shown up sooner to give you a behind-the-scenes look. I can still give you the tour afterwards if you want. We'll spice up that article of yours."  
"Sounds good, but I can't stay too long. I've got to get back home and write this article. It's due tomorrow night so it can make the Sunday paper," Stacey said as they both sat down at the rectangular table. They still had to wait for a few people to show up: two board members, the museum director, and a guest speaker.  
"That's fine, I'm meeting someone for dinner tonight anyways."  
"Jamie, no doubt."  
"As a matter of fact, it is. He says he has something important to tell me," Leila confirmed her friend. At this Stacey gave a knowing smile and an eyeroll. "And I've got something important to tell you guys later. Oh, and I'm not making dinner tonight, so you and Aliana will have to fend for yourself; if she shows up in time for the meal that is."  
"Rockin', we're having pizza again," Stacey said and set both girls into peals of laughter at memories of too many pizzas during their stay at the Xavier Institute. At this moment the large figure of a man appeared in the doorway. Leila sensed his presence behind her and quickly spun on her heal to face him.  
"Oh no. This was a set-up, wasn't it? I'm not here to give a speech on the mutant geneology at all, am I?" the man chuckled. When he stepped forward to sit at the table it was clear to see that he wasn't what you would call a man at all. He was more of a big, furry blue cat-creature with glasses.  
"Hi, Mr. McCoy," both girls said in unison with big smiles.  
"Don't worry, you know we're on business today. Besides, our danger room privledges are a bit limited these days. But I'm sure if you were along we'd be able to get in," Stacey said, giving him a wink.  
"Logan's run, level twelve this time?" Leila played along.  
"Perhaps some other day ladies. Now, are we ready for this presentation?" he asked and set his briefcase on the table.  
"Totally. The audience is in for a real treat today. They get to hear the expert on evolution, Dr. Hank McCoy, himself," insisted the regular presentor as she stood and smoothed her hair in the mirror to ready for her speech. 

----------------------------------

Some time later...

The winged woman, the bespecaled blue man, a tall man in a blue suit, and a shorter man in a similar gray suit shuffled back into the conference room with their heads lowered. They had come right off the stage from their speech and were followed by a tall, slender woman in a blue business suit. She made a motion for them to sit down.  
"Miss Lenoir, please, we-" one of the men, a board member started before she raised her hand to quiet him.  
"Did not have a hand in this endevour. I know. It was a set-up of wretched intentions," she spat out the words.  
"Please, let me appologise. I fear this catastrophe was my fault. I was the one that found the extinction code in the human dna. It's only to be expected that they want answers for it," Hank pleaded.  
"I won't hear of it. It's as much our fault for not being prepared for this as it is yours. No one is blaming you. Let us hope they don't blame our association for this blunder of the press," Miss Lenoir concluded.  
"Miss Lenoir, I promise I'll find out who was beind this. They attacked us with questions on the extinction code. They blamed us for it. And they pinned it all on the museum. I'm just thankful the few mutants in the audience didn't have outer mutations like ours. But, I will find out who it was," Leila promised. 

A few minutes later

Stacey met them in the hallway outside the conference room. After both girls bid adieu to their former teacher they started walking down the hall.  
"I probably shouldn't be here now. You guys will have a lot of work ahead of you after that," Stacey offered.   
"No, I promised you a tour," Leila insisted.   
"It's okay, some other time perhaps." 

"You sure?"

"Yeah, you guys have your hands full. I'll just run over to Cole's house, he's only a few blocks away. Then I'll head home and try to make this article smile in your favour."

"Thanks Stace. I'll see you later."

-------------------------

2005

The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters--The Recreation Room

"Stacey? Are you okay? What'd you read?" Ghost said as she walked in the room with mugs of hot chocolate. It was still early January and no matter how warm the school was kept, she insisted on the hot drink on windy nights such as this.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just read one of those diary entry things. Says some day there's going to be a museum dedicated to evolution. Where'd you find this thing again?" her friend answered her.

"Upstairs in a classroom," Jamie answered.

"Do you really think it's what's supposed to happen?" Aliana said as she took a mug and breathed in its sweet aroma.

"It's not unlikely. There's bound to be a time-traveling mutant out there, right? But it does say we can change that future. I hope we can, I hate to think our fates are already written out and cast in stone," Ghost commented.

--------------------------

((A/n: Okay, this is not where I wanted this chapter to go, but it'll make a little more sense later. I hope it wasn't too confusing for you. Again, sorry for the lateness. But at least it wasn't months in between this time, right? Please review!))


	8. Sudden Impact

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, or their characters; all of it belongs to Marvel Comics and their individual creators. The characters of Stacey Lofton, Cole, and Vicki Byrne belong to Stacey Lofton (read our Evo/PotC crossover story on her name!). Aliana LeBeau belongs to Aliana LeBeau. Mithra belongs to stormelle. I reserve the rights to this fiction, its story line, Leila Stone, Leonora Traviata, Carolyn Darjay, Niccolò Traviata, Pricilla Kenes, Christopher Swainison/Meltdown, Toby McGrathe/Phantom, Karl Angler/Armour, and Glint.

A/n: Hey there and welcome back to another chapter of Confessions of a Future Past! Sorry this one is so late, school is starting up so I've had a lot of junk to do, and I was out of town again. And then I got a bloody virus. But, I do promise to try to start bring things together in this chapter.

Confessions of a Future Past

Chapter 8: Sudden Impact

2029

After some time of trying to remind Glint of her past Bobby had one last idea. "Hey Vick, did I tell you I ran into some of the new Xavier students at the mall yesterday? Yeah, they asked me if I'd do a danger room session with them next week, teach them some of the old Iceman tricks. At first I was gonna say no, but then I got to thinking about when we'd take on all those extra sessions. Those were a lot of fun, weren't they?"  
"Yeah, remember when Stacey and Lelia figured out how to create their own virtual program? And they turned the danger room into an amusement park?" 

"Of coarse, they made me pay admission," Bobby laughed. "Oh, what about when I beat Logan at his own session by icing the whole room? He was slipping all over and had to crawl across the floor with his claws dug into the ice."

"Oh, I wish we could have gotten that on tape," Vicki commented. She then turned around on the bed to face Glint behind them. "Hey, what's your favourite session memory?"

"I, um," Glint started, her face scrunched up trying to remember. She started fidgeting with her necklace as she tried to grasp hold of her memories. "Uh, I remember..."

Vicki tensed in anticipation, was Bobby's plan actually working?

"I...I remember seeing a session from really high up. There were windows all around this room I was in, and there was um...some computers too."

"The observation deck of the D.R." Bobby helped her along.

"Yeah, and um...there were cannons and explosions below me and I wanted to go down there. Sorry it's kinda fuzzy," Glint continued to fiddle with her necklace.

"No, that's good. I remember that too. That was the first time the Professor showed us the danger room," Vicki explained.

"Yeah. I-I remember you being there now. And there was someone else too. A boy. Taller than us with light brown hair."

"His name was-"Vicki started, but was interrupted as Glint finished her sentence.

"-Jason." The pendant of her necklace popped open with a small "click."

"Whoa, how'd you do that? That thing was sealed tight," Bobby exclaimed and got up from his perch on the bed and knelt down next to Glint, Vicki close in tow doing the same.

There was a round, translucent bubble inside, the size of a small bead. As they watched it grew larger, starting to slowly rise above the open locket. The diameter was now that of the length of a pencil. Within seconds a dark figure appeared inside. The figure then turned into a tall woman with short hair. When she started to speak, it was extremely hard to hear her, just a whisper to which her lips didn't match. They guessed maybe she was using telepathy, but still couldn't hear it.

"Is that..." Bobby started, but was interrupted.

"Lía!"

----------------------------------------------------

2029-Somewhere underneath New York.

Two slender women walked into a dark room with a table in the centre. They were both wearing long jeans and similar black shirts with the Xavier Institute logo on the front. The taller one, a blonde, had on a thick, black jacket; the other, with long red hair, wore a flowing black trench coat.

Once they were closer they could see three more people sitting at the table in the dim light. From left to right there was a man with short, messy brown hair; a man with dark skin and even darker hair; and a woman with pale skin and brown curls framing her face. The original two women sat down at the table, between the first man and the other woman.

The redhead planted a kiss on the cheek of the man next to her. "Hey Jamie."

"You're not supposed to call me that," Jamie answered.

"Oh please, no one's gonna find us for awhile," she groaned.

"Fine then, Lelia," he stressed her name in a mocking manner. He then turned his attention to the blonde on the other side of Lelia who was pulling on a pair of leather gloves. "Cold, Stacey?"

"We all are," the dark man answered.

"Chris is right. I mean, I've dealt with New York winters all my life, but I never would have guessed being under the city would be even colder," Stacey commented.

The pale brunette reached below her chair and pulled out a small paper bag and placed it on the table. "Maybe some food will warm you up," she said to everyone else.

Stacey quickly opened the bag and pulled out a few cookies. "Chocolate chip cookies! Rockin'!" Soon everyone had their hands on one or two of the treats.

"Aliana, you're the best!" Lelia said as soon as she was done devouring her first cookie.

"Actually, Bobby brought them," Aliana confessed.

"He's certainly good in my book," Chris said through a mouthful of crumbs.

"How'd he get them here?" Jamie questioned.

"He brought them himself. I gave him Lelia's old image inducer so he could hide from any futurians if they found him. He managed to hook it up so he could appear invisible in case of emergency."

"Well, I definitely call a cookie shortage an emergency," Stacey said with only the slightest hint of sarcasm.

"You're a genius, Ali!" Lelia suddenly shouted.

"Ah am?" Aliana was surprised by her friend's sudden outburst.

"She is?" Chris asked skepticly.

"Yeah, she is. Listen, if Bobby has my old inducer, then-"

"We can communicate with him!" Jamie interrupted Lelia.

"Precisely my point," she beamed.

"Here, you deserve a cookie," Stacey joked as she passed a cookie Lelia's way.

"Oh, we weren't called in here just for cookies, were we?" Jamie realised.

"Sorry, I got distracted," Chris confessed, "I got word from Scott on the game plan."

"Which means…?" Aliana pried.

"We're gonna strike back."

A/N: Well, yeah. It was short. But the next chapter more than makes up for it! Yeah, I've already got the next chapter written, yay me! You'll have to wait until Saturday for that one though.


	9. When in Rome

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, or their characters; all of it belongs to Marvel Comics and their individual creators. The characters of Stacey Lofton and Vicki Byrne belong to Stacey Lofton (read our Evo/PotC crossover story on her name!). Aliana LeBeau belongs to Aliana LeBeau. Mithra belongs to stormelle. I reserve the rights to this fiction, its story line, Leila Stone, Leonora Traviata, Carolyn Darjay, Niccolò Traviata, Pricilla Kenes, Christopher Swainison/Meldown, Toby McGrath/Phantom, Karl/Armour, and Glint.

A/n: Hey there and welcome back to another chapter of Confessions of a Future Past! Wow! I got this up on time, I guess writing while I'm "paying attention" in class really works! So, strap in for a long chapter. Um...yeah, read on young reviewers.

Confessions of a Future Past

Chapter 9: When in Rome…

"We're gonna what!" Jamie, Stacey, and Lelia all shouted in surprise.

"You heard me: we're going to attack the futurians," Chris repeated.

"Aliana, why are you not surprised by this? What do you know?" Jamie questioned her, slightly suspiscious she was hiding something from them.

"Well, Bobby and Glint are gonna try to save President Kelly because the futurians are supposed to attack. It's only to be assumed that they'd have to fight the aliens. And we all knew it would come to this eventually, right?" she replied.

"Well, yeah, I knew we'd have to fight them sooner or later, but I always figured they'd come after us first," Stacey confessed.

Lelia leaned forward and spread her hands out and tried to reason with the others, "Since when do X-Men play the offense? We're not exactly protecting anyone here. Doesn't attacking them first make us just as bad? They're universal bullies, yeah, but they're not terrorists."

"Have you forgotten what they did to this place? Innocent people died because of them!" Chris retorted.

"In our crossfire," she said calmly.

"They have some of your friends and students in captivity, how can you protect those aliens? We've got to stop those creeps and save the prisoners before more are hurt or taken!" Chris insisted, his hands starting to glow a dull red.

"I get what you both are saying, and I'm not really sure what to do. I'll compromise, for now. I want to help with the rescue team," Stacey interjected.

"You're better off on the field, you could blast those scum easily," Chris said sharply.

"Rescue team or not at all," Stacey retorted.

"Fine," he spat back.

"Girls, I want to help you, I really do. But I think I'll be a better asset out on the field. Chris, count me in," Jamie explained.

"It's okay, Jamie. We understand," Lelia said, placing a comforting hand on his arm.

"You know you've got me," Aliana added.

They all looked at Lelia. "Well, what about you?" Chris asked.

"I'm still not convinced. But, I'll help in the rescue part under one condition," she bargained.

"What are they?" His glowing hand tensed.

"I get Phantom and Armour on my team."

"That's Toby and Karl from the school, right? Yeah, I can get them. You'll be coordinator you know. Your powers best qualify you for the job." Chris explained, his hand uncurling and turning to its original colour.

"Yeah, I know," she said with slight disappointment.

"Okay then, here's the plan."

-----------------------------

2029

"I can't hear her, can you?" Bobby asked as he strained his eyes and ears on the small floating orb.

"It's a time bubble, I think. We can't hear her because it was, or is, from a different time. I think I might be able to find away inside," Vicki explained and reached her hand cautiously toward the time bubble. Once her forefinger touched the smooth surface a bright light surrounded them.

Vicki realised, moments later, that she had instinctively closed her eyes against the sudden blast and now opened them. It was still unbelievably bright and she had to squint against it, but could make out a faint scene in the distance. All around her was a foggy, yet slightly solid substance; how children first imagine the inside of a cloud. She pushed her way through it with ease and found out it was similar to swimming and made her way towards the trees she'd seen.

When she emerged she was surprised to see what she came through really did resemble a cloud. Vicki blinked twice and looked around. She couldn't believe what was before her: the sky was a faded green, the foliage around her was turquoise, and in the distance there was a red sea lapping up over pure white sand. She rubbed her eyes.

"This can't be real."

"Where are we?" Glint came up behind Vicki from the cloud covered in a pinkish, glass-like layer. Her shield had come up instinctively to protect her from the unknown of the cloud and now slowly dissolved starting at her head and worked its way down to her feet.

"And how did we get here?" chimed in Bobby as he exited the low cloud behind the girls.

"A worldlet," the heard in their minds simultaneously. "Consisted of pieces of many worlds, and many times. I convinced a couple of mutants to combine their powers to create it," the voice continued.

"Leonora," Bobby sneared. "You mean used them as mind puppets."

"Why should not I? Only the strong survive. And yet you found your way here. You started to discover your memory, found the portal, and want my help, yes? Well, I did promise...come through the forest and look for the Colosseum.

"Did she just say the Colosseum? As in Rome?" Vicki asked.

--------------------------------------------------

2015

_Shine. Make 'em wonder what you've got_

Lelia smiled at the old Newsboys tune, then reached for her cell phone. Her elbow struck something scaly on her right. "Sorry," she said quietly to the orange scaled man next to her. She was on the subway in a car full of mutants. It was an unwritten rule these days that mutants had to sit seperate from everyone else. But she didn't mind anymore, she wasn't gawked at and didn't need to hide her wings.

_Make 'em wish that they were not on the outside looking bored_

"Hello?"

"Hey, I'm running late. I, uh, missed the bus again," a voice came through the phone.

"Again? Jamie, if you can create like a hundred of you, why can't you finish your work in time to catch the bus?" Lelia said with a small chuckle.

"You know I can't let them know that. Anyways, you're not waiting for me there are you?" Jamie asked.

"I haven't even gotten home yet. In fact I haven't made it to Mutant Town yet. I got held up at the museum. I'll be pretty late."

"And you bug me for being late? You can even use your powers at work," Jamie chastised.

"Yeah, yeah," Lelia rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I'm getting off the subway right now, I'll fly home and be there as soon as I can."

"It's alright. Since neither of us will make it in time for the reservations anyways, how about we forget the restaurant, I'll meet you at your house, and we'll go to that little Italian place you like?"

"Sounds tremendous. Look, I've got to go, it's hard to fly and be on the phone at the same time. I'll see you then," she said and a second later, after they both said their good-byes, hung up the small cell phone and placed it back in her pocket. She smiled, she loved that little cafe, maybe it would take the edge off the bad news she had to tell.

She flew as fast as she could, trying to block out all the mutant signatures in her mind. She also had to hurry because the sun was setting and she didn't think it wise to fly at night. Lelia looked below her, even at this hour Mutant Town was abuzz with energy. No one was ashamed to show their face here and gathered outside their small homes in groups. Now, it certainly wasn't the best place in New York, but it was still home to countless mutants. And it was the one place in the Big Apple she could truely fly free.

Then suddenly the winged woman stopped in mid-flight and hovered in the air. "There's something familiar about that last signature," Lelia told herself. It was hard to concentrate on a single signature in the midst of hundreds, but she did her best. "Is it possible?" she breated before taking off even faster than before in an effort to beat nightfall.

---------------------------

2029: Underground Mutant Hideout

After two hours of planning, arguing, and eating cookies, the teams were finally ready.

"Alright, Shockwave, Ghost: you guys need to start out at Xavier's and get the rest of your team together. Demeter, Multiple: you're with me, let's go," Chris barked and stood up to leave.

"Aye, aye, Captain Meltman!" Stacey said with a mock salute.

"It's Meltdown," he grumbled.

"Stay safe guys. And don't attack until the Futurians do," Lelia told them.

"Is that lahke a 'don't shoot 'til you see the whites of their eyes' thing?" Aliana joked.

"Yeah, kinda. Oh, and Melty, be careful of that hot head of your's. Don't you do anything stupid," Ghost continued.

"Yes, mom," he replied sharply.

"All right, let's go," Stacey interjected and led the way out of the small room. "Good luck guys," she said over her shoulder to the other three.

"You too," Aliana answered as the boys nodded.

-------------------------

Inside the Worldlet

"Benvenuto a Roma," Leonora said from up in the stands as the three mutants walked into the middle of the empty Colosseum. "Alright, let's have a look inside that mind of yours. How old are you, ragazza?" she asked as she made her way down towards the arena.

"Twenty-nine," Glint answered automaticly.

"What if I said you were only seventeen? You know it is true, don't you Emmeline?"

A/n: Wow, that was long, for me anyways. Yeah! I told you who Glint was!...kinda. I hope it made sense, I'm still working on the conclusion(s). PLEASE review and tell me what you want to happen, or what you want to know! Mangoes for you all!


	10. Ancient History

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, or their characters; all of it belongs to Marvel Comics and their individual creators. The characters of Stacey Lofton and Vicki Byrne belong to Stacey Lofton (read our Evo/PotC crossover story on her name!). Aliana LeBeau belongs to Aliana LeBeau. Mithra belongs to stormelle. I reserve the rights to this fiction, its story line, Leila Stone, Leonora Traviata, Carolyn Darjay, Niccolò Traviata, Pricilla Kenes, Christopher Swainison/Meltdown, Toby McGrath/Phantom, Karl Angler/Armour, and Glint.

A/n: Whoa, I'm seriously late, aren't I? So sorry! I did have this all written awhile ago, but never really had much time or memory to type the darn thing. Yeah, let's hope this chapter was worth the wait, right? Well, you're in for a treat. The first part of this story I wrote a long time ago, (around the time I was typing up chapter four) and was supposed to be included in chapter 7, but the story line changed a little bit and I had to cut it out. I think this is my favourite thing I've written for this story and I hope you enjoy it as well.

Confessions of a Future Past

Chapter 10: Ancient History

2005

Bobby Drake, the "Iceman," was always the practical joker of the X-Men, with an immature aspect on everything. But even he knew when to be serious during dire and tragic situations; this was one of those times.

He, along with the rest of the remaining X-Men, save Professor Xavier, Storm, Cyclops, and Jean, were sitting on long wooden benches in the grand hall of a train station in Chicago. Looking around him, Bobby could see what was left of his group of friends. Roberto was pacing the floor, stopping to look at the clock every few minutes. Sam was sitting quietly writing a letter (to his sister in Massachusetts Bobby guessed). Lelia was nodding off, trying not to fall asleep, knowing the nightmares that fell ahead if she did. She absent-mindedly talked to Jamie about what had happened and all the things she could have done to change it. And he in turn was trying his hardest to comfort her and convince her it wasn't her fault.

"But it is my fault Jamie! They knew where to find us, they always know!" she insisted in a half-whisper, her voice getting hoarse.

"No, don't say that, it's not your fault. Just because you're a registered mutant doesn't meant that's what led them to us. We're super-powered kids who put a lot of bad guys in jail, and some of them have been following us for awhile since they got back out, waiting for us to leave home so they can get their revenge," Jamie tried to convince her.

After a moment of silence she continued softly. "I'm registered because I wasn't a good enough daughter. They registered me so that one day they'd take me away because I would be too big a threat to the community I was never a part of."

"You know that isn't true. Both of your parents love you, and so does your uncle, and all of us. No one who loves you would do that. It was Replic who registered you, remember? The professor told us that when we found your file on that disk. She did this to you."

"But I wasn't a good enough daughter for her."

"You weren't her daughter though," he tried to reason.

"Yes, I am. She's my real mother," Ghost whispered before burying her face in his shoulder, ashamed of her heritage. Not knowing what else to say Jamie hesitantly put his arm around her shoulders as she started to doze off again.

Bobby felt guilty at over-hearing their conversation and turned his attention away from them and to the others. Stacey sat thinking to herself at the other end of the long bench, trying to figure out what happened, lines on her face from where the tears cut through the dirt and grime. And even though she didn't realise it, all the anger, regret, and remorse were causing her to emit small static shocks from her fingertips. Bobby, on the other hand, noted these and decided to wait until later to talk to her from fear of getting shocked or even electrified. But seeing as how he felt he needed to speak to somebody he walked over to where Aliana sat and tried to start a conversation.

"Um, uh, how are you?" he asked slowly, trying to choose his words carefully.

She looked up at him with curiosity, surprised that he had come to talk to her, but he could also see the relief in her eyes that he drew her away from the silence of her thoughts. She gave him a half-hearted smile and motioned for him to sit down while she thought about how to answer the question. In an instant the smile faded away and she hung her head and answered him, "I don't know."

Then after a little hesitation she continued. "I mean, I'm fine, yes. But I feel so many emotions and at the same time, empty. I just-I just wish there was something more I could have done to save them, to change things around."

"I think all of us here think that, but right now the only thing we can do is get home, protect people, and eventually stop all the attacks."

"You make it sound so easy," she said quietly, "but there's got to be something better to do; we can't protect everyone everywhere. If only there was some way we could get together a team, and not just mutants, humans too, with people from all over the world. And we'd work to stop the attacks everywhere, and protect people by finding out the Futurian plans and stopping them before they get started. Like a worldwide CIA or something. And we could-" she explained before stopping herself. Getting the program started, and getting him to join it would be hoping for too much and they'd probably have to quit the X-Men too.

"What? We could what?" Bobby asked her; truly interested in her plan and curious as to why she stopped suddenly.

"Nothing. Just forget about it. I shouldn't have said anything in the first place," Aliana said, turning away from him slightly.

"No, it's a really good idea, I just wish we could get it to work, our own resistance network. I'm not saying it's stupid or anything, it's just how could humans and mutants work together, especially after today?"

"Because they each want to keep their own kind safe. The hard part would be getting people to join who would risk their lives for anyone," she explained.

"People will come if you call them, they'll join if they're needed. Because like you said they want to protect their kind. Just you be careful, I've lost too many already," he advised.

Aliana nodded and Bobby even thought he saw her smile a little bit. "Things will never be the same again, will they?"

"I know I won't be." And it was true, Bobby already felt different, maturer. All those pranks he spent hours devising and pulling off, even the jokes he told that meant so much to him then, didn't mean anything anymore. But more than anything he felt responsible for people, for their safety.

----------------

2029-Outside Timetripper and Glint's apartment

"Blast! I lost visual!" Pricilla spoke in an aggravated voice into a small black box.

"What! Kenes! What happened?" an angry voice shot back through the device.

"Drake joined them and they were just talking. Then there was a giant flash of light and they were gone!" the slightly frazzled agent answered, running her hand through her hair nervously.

"Byrne's a time traveller, she'll return back soon," a calmer woman's voice came through with only its regular hint of resentment.

"Carolyn's right Cilla; stay there and watch for any activity," the man's voice broke through again, calmer.

Pricilla sighed and shook her head, then keyed the microphone and answered her leader, "10-4."

Outside a darkened building Niccolò sat hidden behind a mound of snow. He was watching the building across the street. A short time later his communicator came to life again.

"Left side, ground zero. I've got two coming out this way, some of our fugitives," Carolyn Darjay's voice reported.

"Good, trail them. I'll watch for the others. They'll probably emerge soon," he said back.

"Done."

Niccolò Traviata crawled back to the slightly hidden entrance of the building he was in front of. Once out of view of the street he straightened up and brushed the snow clumps off his jacket. Then he strode purposefully down the sidewalk, seemingly coming out of the door. He circled the block around an abandoned building and on the other side saw two women walking down a tight alleyway. Anyone without his training wouldn't have seen them; they were hidden so well. Niccolò looked around for his comrade, Carolyn, but didn't see her anywhere through the falling snowflakes. He gave a smirk of satisfaction; they were the best of the best after all.

He walked through the gate of the next building, a real estate office of all things. Walking towards the back, the agent proceeded to the back corner of the yard and skilfully climbed the fence. Once over he crouched down and somewhat walked to the front of the yard where he knelt behind a low wall.

Looking around he would have never guessed Carolyn was in the same spot only moments before. This was where she saw the two mutants, so this must be where the exit was and where the others would come out. It wouldn't be long now.

---------

Inside the Worldlet, Ancient Rome

"E-Emmeline?" Glint stuttered, "is that my name?"

"But of coarse. Now, I can remove the mental blocks in your mind. I will warn you though; it will unlock your memories, but also some of your powers. It may be too much for you," Leonora replied as she sat in an oversized throne.

Glint opened her mouth to answer, but Bobby interjected. "Since when do you help people? What's in it for you?"

"Yeah, what could Emmy possibly have that you want? No offence, Glint," Vicki added and Glint nodded her head slowly, confused.

"I have something I need to take care of back home, and I can't get out of here with out your help. I need Vicki to do the time-travelling, and I need Glint to protect me in the portal," Leonora said coldly.

"Protect you, from what? We came through just fine," Bobby snapped.

"You Drake had an ice shield, Miss Hayes here had her force field, and Victoria is a time traveller. You were all protected. Now, I could take control of Glint, but I would need to take down the mind blocks first and I can't do that against her will."

Vicki called the others off to the side into a small huddle.

"She's gonna hear us," Bobby pointed out.

"I don't think so, she doesn't seem as strong here. She said she can't take down the mind blocks with out Glint's approval, you know she's never needed someone's consent before," Vicki explained.

"What's your point?" he asked.

"I think she's here against her will, she's trapped," Emmeline finally interjected.

"Humph, doesn't surprise me. She's always been a criminal," Bobby huffed.

"Okay, so she's trapped in this worldlet prison and needs our help to get out. But if we help her get out we'd be letting her escape. She buys into the mutant supremacy theory big time, do we really need another Magneto out there?" Vicki rationalised.

"We also don't know our way out and would like my memories back," Glint said.

"Okay, so we've got risks on both sides. Glint, they're your memories, what do you want to do?" Bobby asked.

"Well, Leonora fought for the United Countries of the World before, right? Maybe she'd help in the battle against the Futurians again. I think we should take the chance of getting her out of here," Emmeline concluded.

Vicki sighed and ran a hand through her pink and brown hair then looked up at her friends. "Alright, but we should probably hurry and get back, the time stream is so polluted these days it could be hard getting to D.C. on time."

Glint rolled her eyes and walked back towards Leonora. "Alright, I've made my decision, I'm ready."

"Excellent," La Luce hissed behind a smile.

A/n: So? Was it worth the wait after all? Please let me know what you thought of this chapter so I know what would be best for the coming ones. The next few chapters should be up shortly since I now have my own computer in my room and aren't constantly fighting my brothers for the use of the other one. All flames this time will be donated to the firebender's association. And all positive comments will receive a mango and possibly some cantaloupe, depending on how good the comment is. -


	11. Stormy Weather

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, or their characters; all of it belongs to Marvel Comics and their individual creators. The characters of Stacey Lofton and Vicki Byrne belong to Stacey Lofton (read our Evo/PotC crossover story on her name!). Aliana LeBeau belongs to Aliana LeBeau. Mithra Gale belongs to stormelle. I reserve the rights to this fiction, its story line, Leila Stone, Leonora Traviata, Carolyn Darjay, Niccolò Traviata, Pricilla Kenes, Christopher Swainison/Meltdown, Toby McGrath/Phantom, Karl Angler/Armour, and Glint.

A/n: 11 Chapters! Whoot! I never really expected myself to actually get this far, I guess school is good for something though, right? Anyways, I hope the last chapter wasn't too hard to understand for you. This one is hopefully better. Anyways, enjoy this instalment!

Confessions of a Future Past

Chapter 11: Stormy Weather

2015

"What're you doing home?" Stacey asked as Lelia walked into the apartment. She was sitting on the couch with her laptop on her legs and a plate of half-eaten pizza on the table in front of her.

"Running really late. Jamie's going to pick me up here. Let him in will you?" the redhead quickly explained as she hurried to her room.

"Sure," Stacey agreed then returned to typing her article on the new senatorial candidate, Angela Wainright and her involvement in that morning's press conference disaster. Once her fingers started clicking on the keys again a muffled voice came from down the hallway, interrupting her thoughts.

"So, did you see Cole?"

"Yeah, I stopped in real quick, but we didn't stay there long. He was on his way out to hear some speech. I didn't catch the speaker's name, but he was good. And I mean really good. The whole speech was pro-mutant too. We caught up with the guy afterwards and offered him a chance at politics and other public speaking. He turned us down at first, but he said he'd think more on the speaking debut. I'm going to try and get this guy as the main speaker for the cause."

"Seriously? That's fabulous Stace!" Ghost's excited cries echoed down the hallway.

"What's so fabulous?" A voice said as the front door opened. A woman with deep green eyes and bouncing brown curls walked in and closed the door behind her.

"Stacey found a forerunner for her revolution," Lelia answered.

"It's not a full-blown revolution," Stacey corrected.

"Not yet," Lelia said as she emerged from her bedroom in a more casual, yet still dressy outfit of a blue and turquoise peasant top and crème pants.

"Stacey, you're my hero just for trying," Aliana complimented, "An' Miss Lelia, what are you doin' home? I thought you had a date tonight?"

"You two act like you're trying to get rid of me. Yes, I do have a date tonight, and I'm still here because we're both running really late-"

"He missed the bus again, didn't he?" Stacey laughed.

"Well, yeah, I'll never understand how he does that so much. But as soon as Jamie gets here I've got something to tell y'all," Lelia said as she secured her hair with one final clip.

Aliana headed for the couch to join Stacey and the doorbell rang its solemn tune. Lelia walked passed both girls and answered it. "Hi Jamie," she said cheerfully as she opened the door to reveal him waiting in the hallway.

"You ready to go?" he asked with a smile.

"Yeah, but I want to tell you guys something first, mind coming in for a second?"

"Of coarse not," he walked into the apartment and Ghost closed the door behind him. "Hi Stacey, Hi Aliana," he said as he took a chair adjacent to the couch. Both girls returned his greeting, Stacey still tapping on the keys of her laptop.

Ghost took the remaining chair and prepared to make her announcement. "Okay, I've got good news, bad news, and worse news. Let me start with the bad news.

"Stacey was at the presentation with me today, so she knows how it went. Mr. McCoy set up to do a speech on how humans evolved into mutants, and, well, it basically turned into an anti-mutant mob. And the board wanted someone to blame for it, namely me. So, I got fired, and that's why I'm running late tonight."

"What? Why didn't you tell us?" Stacey interjected quickly, ceasing her typing.

"Let me finish. The good news is Professor Xavier and Jean still want me to teach at the Institute. Apparently they still haven't gotten a permanent flying teacher since back when I needed one. So, really, I have a better job than before. The thing is though that I wanted to keep an eye on Ms. Lenoir and I can't do that as easily from the Institute."

"Wait, why do you want to watch her?" Aliana asked confused.

"Because towards the end of my speech I sensed a mutant in the room, and it kept pointing to her. I know she's not a mutant, she's flatline. And on my way home I sensed the same thing again, over Mutant Town. But I still couldn't put my finger on what powers they were."

"An' there's only two you can't sense, right?" Aliana questioned.

"Shapeshifters and telepaths?" Jamie suggested.

"I'll tell you one thing, that wasn't a shapeshifter."

-------------

2029-New York City, Mutant Town

"It's faster the other way," Stacey grumbled as she and her comrade, Lelia, walked onto the streets of Mutant Town.

"Yes, it is. But this way is safer. No one will notice two mutants walking this way, the other way is harder to hide," Lelia explained.

"Not by much. This place is a ghost town…it's kind of creepy," Stacey said quietly.

"I know," her friend answered grouchily.

"I wasn't accusing you," Stacey said after a moment of silence.

"Didn't have to."

"Look, it's not your fault. I was there; I saw what happened. It-"

"We're here."

"Just where exactly is here?" Stacey looked warily at the old, dilapidated building they were in front of. She looked around and didn't see a single window without bars on it. Lelia reached to push a button on the wall; one of the few that looked like it worked.

"Hello?" came a static-filled voice from the intercom.

"Open the door, Gale, we need to ask you something," Ghost said as she depressed the button that almost stuck down. A buzz came from the door and Ghost quickly grabbed it and held it open for Stacey to enter.

"Thought I wouldn't see you for a long time, butterfly," a light-haired woman called from the top of the stairs.

"Mithra, is that you?" Stacey asked as she squinted in the dim light to see the mutant as she and Lelia ascended the stairway.

"Stacey, Stacey Lofton? Wow, this is a treat," the woman said as she ushered the two into a doorway quickly. She motioned for them to have a seat on the few chairs in the kitchen as she locked the door. "Alright, what's going on?"

"Mithra, we need your help. We need you to come back to the X-Force," Ghost said, refusing to sit down, they didn't have long. Her words brought back memories for the other two girls of the team she had once led at the Institute they were all a part of.

"Lei, I'm sorry, I can't come back. Xavier himself could show up on my doorstep and ask and I would still say no," Mithra Gale answered stubbornly.

"You saw what the Futurians did here. And you can see how many mutants are left; we're a little short on troops. We need you to help rescue some of the people who were captured here," Lelia insisted and looked out the dirty window up at the sky. The sun was clouding over with strange clouds mixed with what looked like a nebula. "And we need to hurry, there's a storm coming." As if in answer one cloud lit up with lightning, a few moments later followed by a loud peal of thunder.

Mithra flinched at the noise and walked over to the window. She easily brushed back the curtain hiding the other half of the window and looked out between the iron bars. "I'm coming," she said simply with a worried look on her face as she looked up at the sky.

"Really? I was expecting to do at least a few more minute's worth of begging," Lelia looked at her old friend curiously.

"That's no regular storm. They're coming."

"Who is?" Stacey asked, but was afraid she already knew the answer.

-------------

2029-New York City, outside Emmeline and Vicki's apartment

Pricilla keyed the microphone quickly as a burst of light filled the room she was watching. "They're back, I repeat Drake, Byrne, and Hayes are back in the apartment. There's someone with them. Nick, you're not gonna believe this, but it's your mother."

-------------

A/n: Well all, how was that? Please leave me a review to let me know. Stormelle, congratulations, Mithra has made her second appearance in this fiction, this one with a speaking part! Expect her to be in the next chapter for sure. And for all you that are constantly waiting for (and bugging me about) the next chapter, I'll try to get up the twelfth quickly. Since mangoes are more expensive these days, being out of season, each of you gets a cookie for reading.


	12. See the Light

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, or their characters; all of it belongs to Marvel Comics and their individual creators. The characters of Stacey Lofton and Vicki Byrne belong to Stacey Lofton (read our Evo/PotC crossover story on her name!). Aliana LeBeau belongs to Aliana LeBeau. Mithra Gale belongs to stormelle. I reserve the rights to this fiction, its story line, Leila Stone, Leonora Traviata, Carolyn Darjay, Niccolò Traviata, Pricilla Kenes, Christopher Swainison/Meltdown, Toby McGrath/Phantom, Karl Angler/Armour, and Emmeline Hayes/Glint.

A/n: Wow, I'm really dumping a lot of characters on you guys aren't I? Well, don't worry, I think I've got them all covered for now, so no new ones for at least this chapter. I'll try to keep piecing this puzzle together so it makes more sense. And oh yeah, remember that Leonora is Italian, so La Luce is pronounced la luch-eh; it means light. Niccolò is Italian too, everyone else is American, except Lelia who grew up in England.

Confessions of a Future Past

Chapter 12: See the Light

2005

Lelia Stone finished sipping her hot chocolate and placed the empty mug on the coffee table in front of her. She picked up the small, battered book that lay there and flipped to the front message again. Then she handed it to Jamie who was reading over her shoulder.

"Anyone know anything about time travel?" Stacey said from the window as she absent-mindedly watched the snow fall lightly.

"You can't really be serious. I mean, how do we know any of this stuff is really going to come true? And if they are, maybe that's what will happen if we do try to change things. I'm not going to put my faith in some book we found lying in a classroom," Bobby explained and snatched the book from Jamie's hands, flipping to a page at random. "It says here Principal Kelly's going to become the president someday. Like that will ever happen."

"He's got a point," Aliana said from her comfy chair. "Besides, shouldn' we be in charge o' our own destinies? Ah'm not sure Ah want to live mah life according to how some book says I should or shouldn'."

Ghost, who had been quiet through this all, stood up and tore the book from Bobby's hands. Without a word, she walked over to the blazing fireplace and tossed the book into the flames. "Whatever this thing says, I don't want to know. Whatever happens, happens; I'm not going to worry about it."

----------

2029-Vicki and Emmeline's apartment

"Come on, we're going to be late!" Bobby insisted and herded the three women out of the apartment. Once they were out of the building and down on the street Leonora walked the opposite way from the others and before Bobby could turn around she had disappeared.

"Oh no, where'd she go?" He said as he looked around him.

"She can control the light. We won't be able to see her," Vicki reminded him.

"Another day then, Luce," he said mostly to himself, then turned to the other two. "Hurry up! We need to save President Kelly!"

"What don't you understand about me being a time traveller?" Vicki said as she grabbed his and Emmeline's wrists. Soon they were all surrounded by a strange purple glow, and the lighting and scenery around them changed quickly until they were at the press conference later that day.

"There's Kelly!" Glint squealed, as a dark haired man approached the podium in the middle of a large stage. Before she could say anything else though she felt her pocket get inexplicably hot. She quickly reached in and pulled out a searing hot book, which she immediately dropped on the ground. Before their eyes the three mutants watched as it strangely turned into ash. "They burned my book!" she shrieked.

Vicki gave her a sly smile, "Well, you wanted them to change the future somehow. Looks like they did."

"What are you girls talking about?" Bobby asked curiously.

"Glint had a book of everything that's happened to the X-Men and at the Institute. We brought it back in time because she thought it would change the future and we wouldn't have all this destruction around us," Vicki started to explain, but before she could finish Bobby interrupted her.

"That ratty old thing? Ghost threw that in the fire more than twenty years ago. Are you telling me you guys sent that?"

"Well I wouldn't have if I would've known you were going to burn it up," Glint replied angrily.

"Well sorry, we didn't want to live according to some stupid book."

----------

2015-Inside Lelia, Stacey, and Aliana's condo

Jamie listened intently to Lelia's theories on her previous boss's strange behaviour. If it had been anyone else he wouldn't have believed a word, but he knew that he could trust her, especially after everything they'd gone through in the past years. He smiled inwardly as he thought of her first year at the institute, all the fun they'd had, all the danger room sessions, and trouble she'd gotten him into.

He felt a small shock to his leg, breaking him out of his reverie. He smiled thankfully at Stacey once he realised what had happened, she had saved him from Lelia's temper. When did he stop listening? What was the last thing she said?

"There were a couple of mutants at the presentation, but I kept sensing a weird one, and" Lelia continued, but her voice broke. Her eyes fixed on the table by the door. When she came in she had set down her phone, keys, and the mysterious book.

"What is it?" Jamie followed her gaze to the table. He stood up and walked over to the door. "Has this book always been red?" he picked up the book to examine it, it was hot, so hot he dropped it. Lelia caught it with telekinesis just as flames started licking the sides. She made a tight bubble around it, cutting off the fire from oxygen.

"What just happened?" Aliana asked anxiously as she turned around on the couch to get a better view.

"The book just burst into flames!" Stacey exclaimed, finally breaking her attention from her laptop. "I knew it! I had seen that book before! I wanted to find a time traveller to find out how to change things from happening like they're supposed to and you burned it! That's why it caught fire now, I bet."

----------

2029- Outside Vicki and Emmeline's Apartment, three hours before Kelley's speech

Pricilla held the communicator away from her ear so as not to hurt her ears by the loud reply she knew was coming from Niccoló. She let go of the side button slowly, so he could talk. But she didn't hear his reply, because she dropped the communicator from her perch in the branches of a tall tree, when startled by a bright flash of light in front of her eyes. She covered her eyes, and tried her best not to fall out of the tree as well.

"I think you dropped this signora," a voice came from directly below her.

"Who's there?" the agent asked, slowly removing her eyes, but seeing too many spots to see the person clearly.

"I thought you were supposed to know everything," the voice answered back, it was clearly a woman's voice. Pricilla squinted, trying to clear the spots from her vision to get a clear view below her, but it seemed that she was glowing. "Have you ever wondered just how bright the sun is up close? Blinding intensity. The brightest thing you could ever imagine, and a thousand times stronger. So amazing human eyes couldn't endure it, think about it. Yes, keep that thought."

Pricilla couldn't see a thing anymore, everything around her was reflecting light. She closed her eyes to protect herself from the glaring sight, but the light didn't fade. She covered her eyes, buried her face against the tree trunk, nothing helped.

"The human mind is pretty amazing too, it has no eyes or ears, but can see and hear things you think or dream about. It can make them feel real, can't it?" the insidious voice continued as Pricilla fought to dim the light. Eventually with all her thrashing she fell the short distance to the ground and once recovered felt around for any sign of the other woman.

Once the agent's mind recovered enough, still fighting the intense light, she remembered who her foe was. "Luce" she spat and reached more frantically to all sides, for any indication as to where she had fallen.

"La Luce, if you please," Leonora answered back, a grim satisfaction in her voice. Pricilla heard a soft click from slightly above her, yes, the mutant had the communicator the whole time, didn't she? She had probably held the button down to keep the line silent.

"Niccoló, I'm coming home," Pricilla heard, then the button releasing, and the communicator dropped to the ground. The woman left as well, her feet almost silent in the soft snow.

She couldn't make out Niccoló's anger through the communicator, but heard it nonetheless. Pricilla crawled awkwardly towards it, stumbling in the snow she couldn't see. When she finally felt the hard plastic in her hand the man had stopped ranting and there was a short silence, quickly followed by Carolyn's voice. "Leonora, what did you do to Kenes?"

"Carolyn, I'm here. Luce's gone, I don't know where she went. Oh my god, I think I'm blind," Pricilla finally said when she located the side button.

A/n: I find it some what funny that when I'm typing this up it amazes even me where the plot goes to. It takes so many turns I'm not sure where it will end up. But I think this is a good place to stop, don't you? As always, comments are wanted, and my many thanks and cookies to the readers. More of the missions in the next chapter, I promise.


	13. New Management

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, or their characters; all of it belongs to Marvel Comics and their individual creators. The characters of Stacey Lofton and Vicki Byrne belong to Stacey Lofton. Aliana LeBeau belongs to Aliana LeBeau. Mithra Gale belongs to stormelle. I reserve the rights to this fiction, its story line, Leila Stone, Leonora Traviata, Carolyn Darjay, Niccolò Traviata, Pricilla Kenes, Christopher Swainison/Meltdown, Toby McGrathe/Phantom, Karl Angler/Armour, and Emmeline Hayes/Glint.

A/n: Sorry about the extreme lateness of this chapter everyone. I've been really busy lately with ACTs and competitions coming up fast and haven't had much time for writing. What time I have had has gone into writing my book, so fanfics got pushed down a little bit on my list of things to do. But I have time now and I'll have plenty of time on a few long bus rides coming up as well. Okay, I'll stop blabbering on and let you get to the fic now.

Confessions of a Future Past

Chapter 12: New Management

2029-Mithra's Apartment in Mutant Town, NYC-Three hours to Kelley's speech

"We need to leave, now," Lelia said as she quickly pulled the curtains closed and headed for the door.

"Duh," Mithra answered and snatched a black and orange jacket off the hook near the door and quickly unlocked and opened the door of her apartment.

While she was doing this Stacey rushed over to the exit, the air around her crackling from her sudden overcharge of electricity as a result of the strange storm. "Any idea when they'll get here?" she asked once they left the apartment building behind. She looked up at the ominious sky and hoped it wasn't any time soon.

"Last time the storm started a few hours before the Futurians showed up, but no guarantee," Mithra answered and they both quickly followed Lelia through the abandoned streets of Mutant Town.

Half an hour later they were at the other side of Mutant Town, where the new Xavier Institute stood out against the crumbling buildings everywhere. The gates stood open, one hanging crooked on its hinges. The three girls ignored the blank expressions of those mutants on the lawn gawking at the sky and rushed into the building.

"Come on, he's this way," the redhead said as she led the small group down the hallway. Then she opened a door on the right to a small library of sorts where a man in his forties sat reading a book through red tinted glasses.

"Scott, is that you?" Mithra stepped slowly towards him.

The man looked up from his book and stared at the younger woman, then her friends behind her, searching for their faces in his memory. "Mithra, Stacey, Lelia, what are you doing here? I thought you guys were supposed to be in hiding."

"Oh please, it'll take more than a few aliens and government agents to keep us cooped up," Stacey commented.

Ghost cocked her head to the side, thinking on what the man had said. "Didn't you know we were coming? Melty said that everyone was planning a big attack on the Futurians. Bobby was supposed to-"

"Meet you here and show you were the captives are," Bobby said from behind her. "You've been gone a long time girls, Scott's not in charge here anymore."

"And you are?"

"We're all going to die," Mithra commented quietly.

"Yeah I am, but enough talking we've got to go. Armour and Phantom are waiting outside," Bobby quickly explained and led them out the door away from Scott. Ghost hesitated in the doorway, looking back at her former leader, then followed Bobby.

-----------

2029-Press Conferenece—30 minutes to Kelley's speech

"Well, sorry, we didn't want to live according to some stupid book," Bobby said.

"Did you even-?" Glint started, but couldn't finish. She fell to her knees, hands at her temples.

"Emmy! Are you okay, what's happening?" Vicki asked distressed.

"She's getting her memories back. Leonora actually did something right for once," Bobby scoffed.

_Emmeline remembered her parents were mutants. She remembered a big fire at her house, and lots of yelling about mutants being bad. She remembered being saved by some older kids in black uniforms. And she remembered Xavier taking her away from the fire to live at his school._

_She lived as an orphan without powers at that school for years, until a newly married couple living at the Institute adopted her. She received her powers when she was twelve, she could control the wind. She remembered continuing to stay at Xavier's taking classes and trying her hardest to become a member of the X-Men. And she remembered a classmate, Jason helping her train._

_Worst of all she remembered fighting, and failing, to stop the first Futurian attacks. She was captured by the aliens, but was rescued, only this time not by mutants. She was rescued by sentinel agents and was taken back to their headquarters to experiment on her. They took away her memories, and her powers. When they tried to replace her powers they were different, she could create powerful shields, but couldn't control the wind._

_But her parents, and their team came and rescued her and a few other mutants that were captured. She returned to Xavier's a completely different person._

"What do you remember?" Vicki asked after Glint opened her eyes.

"Everything, well, mostly, there's still some holes," she answered, wiping the tears from her face. "But something really important, the Futurians aren't aliens."

A/n: Okay, so I cut this one short, but I wanted to leave you with that last line. Next chapter you'll learn more about the Futurians, the missions will start, and you might even find out who Jason is! Please review!


	14. Questions

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, or their characters; all of it belongs to Marvel Comics and their individual creators. The characters of Stacey Lofton and Vicki Byrne belong to Stacey Lofton. Aliana LeBeau belongs to Aliana LeBeau. Mithra Gale belongs to stormelle. I reserve the rights to this fiction, its story line, Leila Stone, Leonora Traviata, Carolyn Darjay, Niccolò Traviata, Pricilla Kenes, Christopher Swainison/Meltdown, Toby McGrathe/Phantom, Karl Angler/Armour, and Emmeline Hayes/Glint.

A/n: Thank you to everyone who stuck around for chapter 14! I still can't believe I've made it this far. Since this is such an important chapter, I won't say any more, I'll just start the story for you.

Confessions of a Future Past 

Chapter 14: Questions

2015-Aliana, Lelia, and Stacey's Condo

"Okay, forget about the bloody book already," Lelia said after much conversation about the burned diary. "Right now I think we need to concentrate on Mrs. Lenoir. I think she could be tied in with the Futurians."

"How? We haven't seen those aliens in months, probably went back to their home planet or something," Stacey commented.

"I know we hav'n't, but I sensed something very strange around her. I sensed something similar around the Futurians in the first attack. I just figured it was because they were aliens, but then I sensed the same thing with Mrs. Lenoir and again over Mutant Town," she tried her best to explain.

"Well, what d'ya think it means?" Aliana asked.

"I'm not sure yet, that's what I intend to find out," Lelia said, not sure how she was going to do that.

"Okay, then tomorrow we'll go talk to Mrs. Lenoir at the museum. But can we get our dinner now? It's getting late and I'm getting hungry," Jamie decided, looking at his watch.

"Yes, Jamie, we can get dinner. And I suppose going to the museum is a good idea, but I want to see someone else first," she relented and stood up to get her jacket.

"Who?" he asked, also rising to leave.

"Caliban," Lelia replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

"The morlock? What reason could you possibly have for seeing that guy?" Stacey said over the small clatter of her keyboard.

"Well, he has the same powers as me, and he's more powerful. I just wanted to ask him something about this all," the red head answered and opened the door. "And you two will be fine for dinner?"

"We're ordering a pizza right now," Aliana said as she picked up the phone.

---

"You sure it's him?" Jamie asked suspiciously as they stepped off the subway onto the platform in Mutant Town.

"Yeah, it's actually easier to sense him that almost anyone else. Our powers sort of attract the signals of those around us; it's strange, but helpful. He'll definitely be there," Lelia explained.

"If you say so," he said as they walked above ground into the dim light of a street lamp.

"Come on, Caliban's this way," she said, pulling Jamie's sleeve and dragging him towards a nearby building.

"What is it with this guy and dark alleyways? Can't he meet someplace normal?" Jamie complained as he was brought into the darkness between two brick buildings.

"Caliban? I need to ask you something," Ghost said bravely and walked farther into the alley, leaving Jamie to guard the entrance because Mutant Town wasn't as safe as it once was.

"You wish me to find someone for you? Can you not find them yourself?" a pale man hissed from the shadows.

"No, I don't need to find someone. What do you sense for my powers?"

"I sense you have the same as I do. And you have telekinesis as well," he said tiredly.

"Yes, I do, but it doesn't seem like regular telekinesis does it, it's almost like a strange new power, yes?"

"Yes, it is different."

"I thought so. Does anyone else have this sort of strange mutation?"

"Yes, there are a few, but you must find them on your own. I must be going," Caliban said and slowly retreated into the shadows.

"Thank you," Ghost said before he left, then turned around and walked back to where she had left Jamie. "We can go eat now, Mr. Hungry."

"He is so creepy," Jamie commented silently before talking to Lelia. "That's all you wanted to ask him about? He didn't even tell you anything!"

"In a way he did, he confirmed my suspicions about Lenoir. The reason I couldn't tell if she was a telepath or not was because it wasn't a power she was born with. It was an odd strain of a mutation, just like my telekinesis. It was a half-power," she replied, proud of herself.

"She's back, isn't she?"

"I'm afraid so."

2029-2.5 hours to Kelley's speech

"Okay, the holding facility is three blocks up and one block East. Shockwave, you fry the security systems, but leave the cameras alone so they think everything is fine. That's where you come in Phantom, you need to make everyone invisible to sneak them past the cameras. From there on it's up to Ghost what you guys do," Iceman instructed as they stopped on a corner in an industrial part of town.

"Got it. And I've just got one question left," Ghost said before Iceman could turn to leave. "Why isn't Scott in charge anymore? Melty said that Scott gave him the information on the attack."

"Scott did give him the information. He mostly just sends messages these days, he doesn't have that same eagerness to fight for the cause anymore. But is that really important right now?"

"Fine, we're going, we're going," Ghost said and Bobby turned away to start back to the Institute to round up a few more mutants before heading to the speech. "Alright, you heard the man, let's go save those mutants."

When they came in view of the holding facility they stopped walking and ducked into a nearby alley. "Things aren't always as easy as Bobby thinks they are, so here's the plan. They're bound to have security cameras all along the perimeter of the building, so Toby, you'll need to get us past those. You think you can do that?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if I can make everyone invisible then and all through the building," Phantom said.

"You won't need to. Karl, you'll need to hack the security codes to get us in the front door."

"No problem, I can do that easy," Armour commented with a smile.

"That's what I wanted to hear. After you get us in, you'll need to find the fuse box and get into it. Then show Stacey which ones to override for the security system. And then figure out some way to get us past the security cameras without us being seen. You two will need to get creative. While you two are doing that, Toby will be sneaking us in to where the mutants are held. Use your communicator to let us know when we can be visible again, we don't want to waste Mr. McGrathe's energy. The rest of us will free the mutants while Karl and Stacey keep the feds busy. Everyone got that?"

"Got it, but aren't you the one supposed to be sitting around in the tech centre coordinating the whole mission and keeping the suits busy for us?" Stacey said.

"Who needs a coordinator? Besides, I'm the one that can sense the mutants and lead us to them. And I also think it's better for a technopath in the tech centre, don't you?" Ghost grinned.

"Definitely," Stacey agreed, knowing that sometimes rules needed to bent.

"Good, then let's move out."

2029-Press Conference, 25 minutes until Kelly's speech

"What are you talking about? What else could they possibly be—wait! I was supposed to be at the Institute to get all the teams on their way! How am I supposed to do that if I skipped right to the speech?" Bobby asked.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Sorry," Vicki apologized, then waved her hands in front of her until a small orb that grew until it was just big enough for Bobby to fit through. "Go through this portal and you'll arrive inside the Institute about two hours ago."

"Thanks, I'll see you soon," Bobby said and stepped through the swirling purple doorway. It closed slowly behind him.

A moment later Bobby pushed his way through the forming crowd to reach Vicki and Emmeline. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing, you just left," Vicki answered him.

"Oh, good timing. Now, what were we talking about again?"

"I said that the Futurians aren't aliens," Emmeline offered.

"Yeah, how can that be? Ghost and all our telepaths agree that they weren't mutants," Vicki tried to rationalize.

"No, they decided that the Futurians weren't normal mutants. Listen, the government experimented on me and a bunch of other mutants. They were messing with our DNA trying to create some sort of super soldier, like Captain America but much stronger and with mutant powers. They succeeded, that's what the Futurians are. They're a new kind of mutant created from our DNA and extra chemicals and stuff," Glint explained.

"So, the government created the Futurians? That's crazy, why would they attack Kelly then?" Bobby criticized.

"They lost control of the Futurians. Like some mutants, they believe they are better than humans; humans and mutants. I think they called themselves mutanis futura: the future of homo superior."

A/n: I just bombarded you with partial plots, didn't I? Sorry about that. The story's really starting to come to the end where I tie up all the loose ends. Hope you've enjoyed it so far, because I expect it to get better over the next few chapters. Please review and let me know what you think!


	15. Pieces of the Puzzle

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, or their characters; all of it belongs to Marvel Comics and their individual creators. The characters of Stacey Lofton, Cole McBride, and Vicki Byrne belong to Stacey Lofton. Aliana LeBeau belongs to Aliana LeBeau. Mithra Gale belongs to stormelle. Everybody else belongs to me, as do the rights to this fic and its storyline.

A/n: Okay, I lied, I'm not almost done. I figured out where I want the rest of this fic to go, so I know the whole plot now! I was mostly making it up as I went along before, that's why it's so confusing and full of holes. But I've got it all figured out now! And sorry about the lateness of this chapter, I was writing it and had to stop and then came back and had forgotten everything. It took me 3 weeks to figure out what to do with it, and I still don't remember what I wanted to write before. All I know is that this is better. I'll stop now and let you read.

Confessions of a Future Past

Chapter 15: Pieces of the Puzzle

2015

Jamie led Lelia into a small Italian bistro, their favourite. But they didn't just like it for the food, it was a mutant-owned restaurant, which meant they could be themselves without persecution. They sat across from each other at a table in the back, away from most of the crowd. After ordering and waiting until the waitress was out of ear shot, the two started to try to figure out what was going on.

"Life of an x-man."

"What?" the red-head asked.

"It's just that we never seem to get a moment's peace, you know? Trouble just seems to follow us around and there's always a super villain out there we're supposed to vanquish," Jamie explained.

"Guess you never really adjust to life out of the service of the X-Men. It's almost like I never left," she said, causing an awkward silence in their conversation.

After a moment's pause, and a drink of water, Jamie asked his first question. "Why'd you have to ask Caliban what your powers were? Couldn't you just do that yourself?"

"Yes and no. Like I said before, my powers, and Caliban's too, attract the signals of every other mutant around us. It's like a giant mutant magnet; that's how I can sense my powers and where he is. But at the same time it's different, I don't really sense my own powers, I just know what they are somehow. I can sense every person in this room, but I can't sense myself, so I had to ask Caliban what he sensed."

"Interesting," was all he could say before the waitress came and set their plates down on the table. He hoped she hadn't heard any of their conversation and wondered how she had appeared so suddenly with out his knowing.

"Pretty cool power ya got there," she said looking at Lelia. She had heard. "So, if you can sense mutations, what's mine?"

"Speed," the winged woman answered with a smile.

"Okay, well, that was pretty obvious I guess. What about that guy sitting by the window? I haven't been able to figure out his yet," the brunette waitress asked, indicating a man in the corner who was staring at them over his paper. When they looked at him he quickly pretended to read the paper.

Lelia smiled knowingly and answered without hesitation, "He's not a mutant at all." She laughed and continued "but from the way he keeps watching you I'd say he's in here to ask you out."

"I was wondering why he'd been coming so much lately. Thanks, I guess. Um, enjoy the food," the woman said, trying to hide a chuckle, then walked away back towards the kitchen.

"Anyways, as I was saying, if Replic is back and she's handing out powers, then she's probably got something planned."

Lelia interrupted him, "Okay, truth time."

"What?" Jamie asked thoroughly confused.

"That was a lie. Well, a half-lie anyway," she confessed. "He's not a mutant, but he's not exactly human either. I think he's a replica mutant."

"So that guy has half-powers, powers like you?" he asked in as low a whisper he could manage. She nodded and he continued. "What're his powers?"

"I think he has invisibility, but I'm positive he also has a healing power."

"You're sure?"

"Jamie! You should know by now, these mutation senses know more than you think they do," she chastised. "Besides, he reeks of Carlita."

"Okay, she's _your_ mom, what're we going to do?"

"First off, Carlita DeToma may have given birth to me, but she is _not_ my mum. Secondly, I have absolutely no idea. If I know her she's probably secretly creating an army, but she'll keep them in the reserves. In other words, she won't have any contact with him until she's ready to attack. So we really can't trail him or anything."

Jamie thought about this for a moment as he ate his spaghetti. Leila decided to let the information process and wait until he said something, not wanting to cut off any thoughts. They were both silent for a moment, thinking over their possible solutions and eating their dinner that had barely been touched so far.

"Okay, what if it was like a disease?" Jamie asked.

"Define." It was Leila's turn to be confused now, but hoped Jamie could define his solution better than she explained her powers.

"Well, it starts out somewhere, ground zero if you will, and spreads out from there. So maybe there's a hotspot where she started, where she might still be. We just need to find where there's the most replicas and start our search from there."

"How'd you think up something like that? It's brilliant."

"Not all of us spent our class time thinking of new programs to create for the danger room; some of us actually paid attention."

"You had a dupe take notes while you slept, that's not exactly paying attention."

"Well, one of me was."

"Whatever, but remember, those sessions came in handy too. Okay, figuring out ground zero is easy: Mutant Town. It's the best place to hide a replica and Carlita's a huge supporter of mutant supremacy, so she would try and keep herself away from humans and stay surrounded by mutants. And after the tragedies in Genosha, Mutant Town is the biggest population of mutants. How could I miss something so bloody obvious?"

"Well, for one, we thought she was gone," Jamie said, trying to stop her from mentally abusing herself.

"Can't she just stay gone next time, or call before she shows up again? No matter, let's go look for that hotspot," Leila said, ready to go find Replic right away, even if it meant skipping the majority of her late dinner.

"First thing in the morning, it's Saturday so we'll have all day. Besides, we should bring in some others just in case she knows we're coming," Jamie said, pulling Leila back down into her chair before she ran out the door in search of a villian.

"You know I'd rather not make this a big x-mission," she answered with a hint of resentment.

"I was thinking more along the lines of Stacey, Aliana, and Bobby," he explained, putting a smile on her face.

"First thing in the morning it is; I'll ask Stace and Ali when I get home."

"And I'll swing by the institute on my way home and talk to Bobby," Jamie promised.

"Wait, I still want to talk to Mrs. Lenoir, and you said you'd go with me to check that out in the morning."

"We can go there first, maybe we'll get an idea of where exactly to start looking from talking to her."

----------

"Of coarse I'll help," Aliana said when asked to join Leila and Jamie's trip around Mutant Town. "We might as well figure this mess out before it comes back to bite us."

"Thanks Aliana. Stace, what about you?" Leila turned hopefully to the tired reporter.

"I can't, sorry. Sue didn't like my take on the fiasco earlier and she's bugging me to revise it or add to it or something," Stacey appologised. She was speaking of her editor, Sue Kracken, who constantly made her rewrite her articles so they weren't as pro-mutant.

"What if I could get you and Cole in to talk to Mrs. Lenoir personally? And the other directors too," the red-head bargained.

"If you can do that, I'll come."

"Good, we leave at 9 tomorrow morning then."

----------

2029- 1 hour until Kelly's speech

Christopher looked at the skies where the Futurian's ship loomed behind the dark clouds. There were a lot of them, he didn't know exactly how many, but he knew that much. This was going to be a tough job, but they could do it. At the foot of the hill he now stood on he had set up everyone they could get to volunteer, and some students from the Institute. He looked down at everyone, then off into the distance where Kelly's speech was being set up and a crowd was gathering. Then he looked over and saw someone approaching, Multiple Man.

"We're outnumbered," Jamie said, also surveying the skies.

Christopher looked over at him annoyed, he didn't need anyone second guessing him. He was the only real X-Man here, everyone else was either a student or a member of an older x-team. "Then make more," he snapped and hit Jamie on the shoulder.

"_I_ can't; I'm a duplicate," he explained when nothing happened, nothing except maybe the formation of a bruise.

"Then find Jamie Prime or something!" Meltdown said angrily.

"If he makes any more duplicates he'll loose control over us. We need back-up."

"We are **not** calling for reinforcements, now get back to your post!"

"That boy needs to be smacked upside the head," Aliana commented when the duplicate relayed the message to Jamie and herself.

"Forget Meltman!" the original Jamie said. "I'm calling the others."

"What if they're not done? You would bow their cover," the duplicate reminded him.

"It's okay, Ghost has everyone switch to a different frequency for stuff like this."

"Then what'll we do if we can't reach her?" Aliana asked, hoping such a situation wouldn't arise.

"We'll call the X-Men. You go out there now, I'll get someone to help us," Jamie said and sent his duplicate to join the rest of his multiples.

---------

A/n: Okay, I originally had this better, but I had to cut it into two chapters, so I'll post the next one sometime in the next few days, I won't make you wait long. It should all start to make sense soon. In the next chapter you will get some investigating at the museum, the introductions of Cole and Jason, and the rescue of the captives. And a thousand thanks to my new beta, Aliana LeBeau! I owe you more Robert for helping me out!

Also, for anyone interested in my planning process/behind the scenes stuff for this, I've posted it in my writing journal http/jezstone. 


	16. Free Speech

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, or their characters; all of it belongs to Marvel Comics and their individual creators. The characters of Stacey Lofton, Cole McBride, and Vicki Byrne belong to Stacey Lofton. Aliana LeBeau belongs to Aliana LeBeau. Mithra Gale belongs to stormelle. Everybody else belongs to me, as do the rights to this fic and its storyline.

A/n: Seems the link to my notes didn't work, well they're on LiveJournal under the name jezstone so you can search for that. Here's where I start filling in the holes and make the different parts of the same time fit together. I hope it makes more sense than that sentence did. And I've included some stuff for my wonderous beta, Aliana LeBeau, some more Aliana, and later on some Robert.

Confessions of a Future Past 

Chapter 16: Free Speech

2029—2.25 hours to Kelly's speech

"Alright, you're clear," a deep voice came through the comlink Ghost had placed in her ear. "But be quick."

"You can count on it," she whispered back and rushed towards the door her senses told her many captive mutants were behind.

"The code is 02548" Stacey read off into the communicator and Toby pushed the corresponding buttons. The door opened with a slight whoosh. Ghost pointed at Toby and signalled for him to go in first, sneak up on any guards that may be in the room.

Phantom nodded and vanished before their eyes, then walked into the cell block. Two guards were in the room and were drawing their weapons, slowly heading towards the now open door. He came up behind them silently and with one well practised hit to each guard had them laying unconscious on the floor. "Come on in," he shouted back to the others.

Everyone paused in the doorway for a second, amazed and horrified by the sight in front of them. The room was huge, and along the walls were transparent doors to cells, cells holding mutants inside. It all looked very state of the art, and very clean. "Toby, watch the door, will you? Mithra, let's get these kids out of there."

"Karl, you there?" Ghost's voice came through the comlink.

"Yeah, what's the deal?" he asked, not taking his eyes away from the schematics he'd found on the computers.

"Can you find anything on these cells, how we get them out?"

"Yeah, the guys who designed those were pretty close-minded. The cells are designed to block powers, but only from the inside. The outside is totally vulnerable."

"Wow, that's pretty stupid," Stacey commented.

"But lucky," Mithra added.

"Don't forget suspicious," Lelia reminded. "Let's hurry up and get them out, I smell a trap. Mith, you take that section, I'll get these guys. Stacey, would you like to come help us?"

"I'll be there in a flash, bout time I go to actually do something."

Stacey and Lelia had fried the circuitry on the cells, now all they had to do was get the kids out by knocking down the doors. Each girl took a few cells and started working. It didn't take long with their combined powers. Soon there was only one cell left and Ghost ran through the door, her intangibility bringing her to the other side as well as shorting out the remainder of the technology the door contained.

"Mrs. M?" the teen on the other side asked, surprised to see someone appear in his cell.

"Hey hot-head," she said and grabbed his wrist, and pulled him out of the cell to join the others.

"How did you get here? How did you do that?" he babbled as his saviour signalled to everyone to join her via comlink.

"No time to explain, but we're here to help you, wasn't that obvious?"

"Well, yeah, but I thought you weren't with the X-Men anymore."

"I'm not."

"And I thought you didn't have intangibility anymore."

"I do, but I can very rarely use it. Now no more questions, we've got to get out of this place. Come on everybody, we'll go meet Karl half-way."

A few minutes later they ran into the technopath in the hallway and he told them the way to get out, but that there were a lot of guards running this way. Lelia turned to a blonde girl in the group they'd just rescued, "You're a pretty powerful teleporter, aren't you? Think you can get us outside?"

"No problem," she answered and soon there was a portal under their feet. Next thing anyone knew they were outside.

"Great job blondie," Stacey commented, patting the girl on the back. "So, should we bring them to the mansion or something? I don't think we were ever told what to do next."

"You said Meltdown organised this, right? Maybe we should call him?" Mithra suggested.

"I'd rather not. I'll try and reach Bobby though," Lelia said and raised her watch that doubled as a communication device. She switched the frequency over now that the mission was over. Before she could try and put a call through to Bobby however, she received a message.

"Um, hello?" she asked.

"Lei, thank God I reached you, we need some backup out here. We're outnumbered, even with all my duplicates," Jamie's voice came through the piece still in her ear.

"We're coming," she answered back then looked up at the group of mutants in front of her. "Sorry guys, I know you just got out and such, but it looks like you've just been drafted. Anyone want to get back at your captors and the Futurians?"

Everyone voiced they were in and the blonde spoke up "Where to?"

"Lincoln Centre, we're going to catch Kelly's big speech."

2029—1 hour 45 minutes to Kelly's speech

"I'll go find Meltdown and tell him we're here," Phantom said eagerly as they arrived in the big field outside of the Lincoln Centre where a mutant force was waiting. Toby started running up the hill where Christopher stood staring at the clouds.

"Toby! Don't!" Lelia and Stacey shouted after him uselessly. Lelia groaned and started after him, Aliana right behind her. "I'm coming with, I've got a thing or two t'say to Mr. I'm-in-charge-here."

"Phantom reporting for duty, sir. We've got your back up," Toby said as he reached the top of the hill only a moment before Ghost and Demeter did.

"Back-up! Who the blazes called for backup! I said we didn't need any help!" Meltdown shouted angrily.

"Cut the act, Chris, you know we need 'em, whether you like it or not," Aliana spat at him. "We could use them, but you can put them in the back, they've been locked up for so long, an' who knows how much trainin' they've had."

"Fine, they're our last line then, but don't expect me to use them," he retorted.

"Oh shut it already. These guys aren't kids anymore, they can handle their own, and you need them," Ghost stepped in, feeling she should defend them. They were in the same situation as her after all. They had all the training, all the power, even some experience, all they were lacking was the title of X-Man. And it was because of that that no one respected them.

"I don't need any vigilantes and civilians," Meltdown answered, his temper rising and his hands starting to glow again.

"Ya do an' ya know it," Aliana came to her friend's defence. "This team has experience against the Futurians, experience that you don' have."

"Not to mention those fake mutants, the Futurians, are made from the genes of these kids," Ghost tried to reason.

"A second ago you said they weren't kids. You also told us they weren't mutants, now you're saying they are?" Christopher said, trying to find a flaw in her argument.

"They're not exactly, they're experiments with half-powers. I don't know the whole story, but I know that much, I can sense that I'm right too."

"If it's true, you've known for this long and never told us? This is huge, it could change the whole war!"

"Hey, you are **not** blaming this on me, Christopher Swainison! I did tell you, many times. In fact, I told the X-Men before you even put on a costume and pretended to help people. And no one wanted to hear it then either. I may have quit the team years ago, but I am still the more experienced here and I know what I'm talking about. So next time someone tries to tell you something, open your empty mind and listen to them; then maybe you won't have to look for another scapegoat. So now you can either listen to what we have to say and let us fight with you, or you can do this on your own and get your bum handed to you. Either way, you are not pinning this on me or any of these kids, got it?"

"No, you listen to me, I'm the X-Man here, the coordinator of this, remember?" Meltman said, now red in the face with glowing eyes as well.

"Forget the X-Men," Demeter jumped in. "This is not you against us, and it's not us against them. It's all of us tryin' to protect ever'one else. We're going t'help our people, even if you won't."

"Exactly. So Mr. Leader, are you going to let us help, or will you step down from your high throne?" Ghost asked, rising to her full height, even if she was still a few inches shorter than Christopher.

He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by someone behind him. "Stand down, Meltman, you're not in charge anymore, I am." Chris spun around quickly, to tell off who had spoken, but quickly shut his mouth when he saw the tall form of Scott Summers standing in front of him.

"You came," Ghost smiled.

"Of coarse. Some kids showed up saying you needed my help. Replic and Luce may have stolen my powers away, but I can still lead this mission, right?"

"No doubt," Aliana confirmed, glad to see Meltdown didn't have the power anymore.

"Uh, Cyclops, I don't mean to disrespect you or anything, but you're wrong. You still have your powers, I can sense them," Lelia interrupted.

"What? I can't use them, I've tried countless times," he said surprised.

"Maybe it's a telepathic block, you did say Luce was involved," Aliana said, trying to help.

"Betting it is, I'll find a telepath for you. But first, we can stay and help, right?" Lelia asked hopefully.

"Of coarse, we're horribly outnumbered and even if you think you quit, you're still an X-Man to me, all of you. Now Meltdown, you go join the group on the left, and tell them to ready themselves. Demeter, you go to the right and do the same, let Iceman know I'm here. Phantom, right? You go and make sure Multiple has a good connection with all those duplicates, I don't want to send any of them out if they're not going to cooperate. And then send him up here so he can watch over them all. Ghost, you find me that telepath, then get up here so you can use those mutation senses to help me plan this attack," Cyclops said, assuming command. Everyone nodded and ran off. This might actually work.

A/n: And there's the 16th chapter! I'm sorry it was so incredibly rushed, I just have so much to explain and put in with such a short period of time to put it in. I didn't get to the 2015 section at all, but I'll put that in the next chapter, don't worry. It's really important, so I wouldn't dream of leaving it out.

Thanks to anyone who has read this far, mangos for you all and cookies if you review. And a thanks once again to my beta who makes sure these chapters make sense for y'all.


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